A Disabled Agenda

The 'Emir of Iraq' had so much difficulty recruiting suicide bombers on Election Day that he used a disabled (Down's Syndrome) child as an unwitting bomber. It's hardly worth even commenting on the total depravity of this act after all of the other morally and spiritually bankrupt murders this scumbag has perpetrated on the innocents of this world. But it is a powerful statement that demonstrates the lack of jihadi fervor in a region of the world where infidel invaders are at there most accessible. I have long said that one of the important outcomes of the Iraq invasion (intended or not) was that it created an easily reachable venue for bloodthirsty jihadis to assemble for their own slaughter at the hands of US troops. Despite media reports to the contrary, we have been doing just that for the past two years. Of course, we have suffered casualties and will continue to do so, but this battlefield, centrally located and even within driving distance from Europe, has become a graveyard for radical islam's 'brightest stars'. This is the reason that John Kerry's absurd statements about being LESS safe ring so hollow.

The histrionic appeals made by jihad recruiters in Europe and the Middle East were going to be made with or without the Iraq War. Offering this centrally located place to conduct 'glorious martyrdom' operations has kept these pigs from attempting to invade our shores in greater numbers. Consequently our law enforcement and intelligence services have had a much easier load to bear with a huge percentage of killers focused on Iraq. It seems that the pool of willing candidates to carry forward the demands of allah and to usher in the new caliphate is drying up. Or perhaps the martyrdom operation in Iraq [sic] against the US is not really panning out.

Many more mujahedin have been ‘martyred’ by US bombs, bullets, and artillery than anything else, and even if the MSM doesn’t want to talk about it, the candidate pool is not convinced that Iraq or even the US is a worthy sacrifice. I suspect the recruiters know this and are modulating their appeals. In an excellent episode of PBS Frontline, the threat to Europe by islamofascism is carefully examined. Something not in the program, but I am beginning to suspect, is that the recruiters having diminishing success with anti-US appeals, are now turning to Europe as the prime target. After all, the islamic caliphate never encompassed North America, but it did include much of Europe. Returning to the caliph days must seem like a much more attainable goal these days, than harming the United States in any meaningful way. Besides, Europe is already heavily infiltrated with radicalized muslims which are taking full advantage of the permissive welfare states that host them. Just as the path of least resistance to strike the infidels once seemed to be in Mesopotamia, the path to the reinvigorated caliphate runs through Europe.

It would be interesting to hear Zarqawi's religious justification for strapping a bomb to a retarded child and command detonating it near a polling place. Of course it would be much more interesting to bash his skull in with a baseball bat. Nevertheless, this act of cruelty and barbarism will be added to Zarqawi's ledger in hell, but more importantly it signifies the frailty of his and UBL's movement. The successful elections in Iraq hammer this point home, and what is likely a shift in strategy forced upon them by the US military signifies the crest of the islamofascist wave and the beginning of a downhill slide. If the Europeans don’t get serious... and fast, these killers could gain momentum again. Makes you wonder if the Europeans didn’t see this coming in their hopes of seeing an American/Democratic defeat in Iraq? Sorry Jacques, your turn.

FLASH: Vietnam Hero Martyrs Self on National TV

Dateline: 30 Jan 2005
Meet the Press studio

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe this election will be seen by the world community as legitimate?

SEN. KERRY: A kind of legitimacy--I mean, it's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote. I think this election was important. I was for the election taking place. You may recall that back in--well, there's no reason you would--but back in Fulton, Missouri, during the campaign, I laid out four steps, and I said at the time, "This may be the president's last chance to get it right."

Refresh my memory, was that the speech where you said you were for supporting our troops before you were against it? Or was that the time when you recommended that we begin pulling troops out of Iraq within six months and then said we didn't have enough troops?

MR. RUSSERT: What specifically must President Bush do in your mind? Who should he call? Who should he meet with? What should he do?

SEN. KERRY: Well, you have to behave as if you really are at war.

Oh like when you go to Vietnam for four months, load up on bogus awards, and then return eight months early from your deployment so you can call your "band of brothers" the army of Ghengis Khan?

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that Iraq is less a terrorist threat to the United States now than it was two years ago?

SEN. KERRY: No, it's more. And, in fact, I believe the world is less safe today than it was two and a half years ago. And, you know, I think this is one of the difficulties of what I tried to carry in the course of the campaign.

I couldn't agree more. It is very difficult to convince the American people of something that is self evidently false. As a result you managed to "carry" your party and crybaby liberals around the world to the cliff of Bush hating insanity and then you all joined hands and jumped...

MR. RUSSERT: Specifically, do you agree with Senator Kennedy that 12,000 American troops should leave at once?

SEN. KERRY: No.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe there should be a specific timetable of withdrawal of American troops?

SEN. KERRY: No.

MR. RUSSERT: What would you do?

SEN. KERRY: I understand exactly what Senator Kennedy is saying, and I agree with Senator Kennedy's perceptions of the problem and of how you deal with it. I would--in fact, last summer, if you'll recall, I said specifically that if we did the things that I laid out--the training, the international community, the services and reconstruction, and the elections and protection--we could draw down troops and begin to withdraw them. I think what Senator Kennedy is saying--and here I do agree with him--is that it is vital for the United States to make it clear that we are not there with long-term goals and intentions of our presence in the region.

I guess working for the past 9 months to prepare the country politically, militarily, and ideologically for the elections that took place today sent the message that we are really there for the oil reserves and to reinvigorate the "crusades" and hopefully spark a muslim v. christian religious conflagration. I fully expect that having trumped up these phony elections to fool the world into thinking America is trying to promote liberty, Bushitler can now enter into his "final solution" for the total annihilation of the muslims... and steal their oil so that it may be spilt on the blue state coastlines in an act of ecoterroristic retribution for not voting for him.

MR. RUSSERT: President Bush is asking for $80 billion more for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Will you vote to authorize that $80 billion?

SEN. KERRY: The likelihood is yes, providing that they do some of the things that I've been talking about with respect to the training and so forth.

Wanna bet?

MR. RUSSERT: At the Clinton Library dedication on November 18, a few weeks after the election, you were quoted as saying, "It was the Osama bin Laden tape. It scared the voters," the tape that appeared just a day before the election here. Do you believe that tape is the reason you lost the race?

SEN. KERRY: I believe that 9/11 was the central deciding issue in this race. And the tape--we were rising in the polls up until the last day when the tape appeared. We flat-lined the day the tape appeared and went down on Monday. I think it had an impact.

Typically when the most infamous murderer on the planet endorses your candidacy, the numbers are going to head south. Of course, your platform was infinitely more appealing to him than the President's so can you blame him?

MR. RUSSERT: But you voted against Condoleezza Rice to be secretary of state. That's not finding common ground. She is qualified to hold that job, no?

SEN. KERRY: Yes, and I said so. But I also said that she was a principal architect, implementer and defender of a policy that has made the United States of America less secure in the world.

Well that and I'm used to having black ladies polish the silver at the mansions... and if they want to have a job, they keep their damn mouths shut.

MR. RUSSERT: Were you in Cambodia Christmas Eve, 1968?

SEN. KERRY: We were right on the border, Tim. What I explained to people and I told this any number of times, did I go into Cambodia on a mission? Yes, I did go into Cambodia on a mission. Was it on that night? No, it was not on that night. But we were right on the Cambodian border that night. We were ambushed there, as a matter of fact. And that is a matter of record, and we went into the rec-- you know, it's part of the Navy records. It's been documented by the other guys who were on my boat. And Steve Gardner, frankly, doesn't know where we were. It wasn't his job, and, you know, he wasn't involved in that. But we did go five miles into Cambodia. It was on another day. I jumbled the two together, but we were five miles into Cambodia. We went up on a mission with CIA agents--I believe they were CIA agents--CIA Special Ops guys. I even have some photographs of it, and I can document it. And it has been documented.

Uh huh.

MR. RUSSERT: And you have a hat that the CIA agent gave you?

SEN. KERRY: I still have the hat that he gave me, and I hope the guy would come out of the woodwork and say, "I'm the guy who went up with John Kerry. We delivered weapons to the Khmer Rouge on the coastline of Cambodia." We went out of Ha Tien, which is right in Vietnam. We went north up into the border. And I have some photographs of that, and that's what we did. So, you know, the two were jumbled together, but we were on the Cambodian border on Christmas Eve, absolutely.

The woodwork of your imagination, bitch. THE KHMER ROUGE WAS A COMMUNIST ORGANIZATION FOUNDED IN 1975. ALTHOUGH I'M SURE THAT YOU WISH YOU COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO HELP THEM IN 1968, I'M PRETTY SURE THE CIA 'SPEC OPS GUYS' WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SO ENTHUSIASTIC ON ACCOUNT OF THEM BEING GENOCIDAL ENEMIES OF THE US.

MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?

SEN. KERRY: Yes, I will. But everything that we put in it, Tim--everything we put in--I mean, everything that was out was a full documentation of all of the medical records, all of the fitness reports. And I'd call on those who have challenged me, let's see their records. I want to see the records of each of those people who have put up a challenge, because some of them have some serious questions in them, and it hasn't been appropriate...

MR. RUSSERT: So they should sign Form 180s for themselves as well?

SEN. KERRY: You bet.

That'll be the day.

Giving Terrorists the Finger

There can be no doubt that the elections in Iraq have been nothing short of a total success. We don’t even know who won yet, but it hardly matters. What must it be like to be Alan Colmes right now? Having spent the past few months on TV saying that the elections should be postponed until the security situation improves only to turn on his TV and have his utter wrongness shoved in his face…again. There are thousands of liberal pinheads having that experience this morning. The ironic part is that nary a one of them will ever admit their mistakes, but merely redirect their energies into some other absurd prediction of failure and doom. But enough about those losers.

The Iraqi people are the clear winners today no matter how you slice it. The turnout in the election was so great that the message sent to the terrorists was clear and unequivocal… there are more of us than there are of you. F*ck off. The few “attacks” that the terrorists managed to commit were so feeble and insufficient that they actually demonstrated the crucial weakness of the insurgency instead of providing any meaningful disincentive to participate in Democracy. What does Zarqawi do now? This was his big test to see if his organization would be successful in Iraq, and he failed miserably. How will he inspire followers to continue to “martyr” themselves when his movement had absolutely no impact to prevent the elections which he had declared unislamic and evil? Why bother?

The Iraqis who voted had to dip their finger into ink in an effort to prevent voter fraud (which reminds me of another issue WE need to address soon). With the turnout numbers that we’re seeing, I suspect those Iraqis that DIDN’T vote might be feeling either ashamed or perhaps even threatened by their inked fingered neighbors. What kind of feeling must it be for Iraqi voters to have announced this election six months ago daring the terrorists to do something about it, and then go out and vote on that day and physically mark themselves for having participated? It’s something akin to Babe Ruth pointing the bat into center field and calling his shot. The Iraqi people called their shot, the terrorists served up their weak ass slop, and the Iraqis knocked it out of the park. Hold those fingers aloft with pride, Iraqi, as a symbol of your liberty and as a “salute” to your oppressors.

Using Your Enemy’s Culture Against Him

Do you ever get the feeling that when it comes to dealing with the troublesome elements in our society or in foreign affairs, America has to just sit there and take it while our foes or criminals use our own laws or freedoms against us? For example, how many criminals have made confessions of crimes as serious as murder, only to have those statements suppressed because Miranda warnings were improperly given? How many Marines were killed in Fallujah because a wounded terrorist either pretended to be dead or asked for medical treatment only to blow up himself and that Marine who was giving aid as is his obligation under the Geneva Convention? Why is it that terrorist detainees captured on the battlefield are entitled to use our Federal Court system to secure their freedom while western civilians and contractors are regularly beheaded on camera for the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? There are dozens of other cases where people who ought not to be entitled to anything but a noose around their necks, routinely flout our cultural proclivity to protect innocence, value life, and live by the rule of law.

And yet when we find a weakness in our enemy which can be exploited to our benefit we must be restrained from taking any advantage. Case in point is this article from perennial American-hating media outlet AP. In it, a former Arabic linguist and soldier Erik Saar, describes an effective interrogation technique that did not rely on causing any physical stress or pain on detainees, or subjecting them to chemical inducements to talk.

“Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear and in one case smearing a Saudi man's face with fake menstrual blood, according to an insider's written account.”

While most Americans could care less if US interrogators beat confessions and intelligence out of terrorist detainees with a lead pipe and a bicycle chain, the MSM seems to be working hard to “expose” any interrogation technique that has a chance of working. The purpose of this effort to expose and condemn techniques that do not physically harm detainees, and yet cause them mental stress sufficient to weaken their resolve to resist is unclear, but the consequences are that US interrogators are increasingly unlikely to have success.

I suppose the “root cause” of this concerted effort by international and US media entities is nothing more that good old fashioned hatred of the USA. Our power, prominence, and pre-eminence in the world is to them a constant reminder of how unfair it is that one nation can so dominate the planet in nearly every facet of society. This foreboding “inequity” has led them to the ideological position that in every instance, the playing field must be leveled by, of course, subjugating American interests to the interests of those which are in opposition. For some reason, we seem to have accepted this state of affairs, and we willingly operate with our proverbial “hand” tied behind our backs. We are forced to grovel before leftist “do-gooders” for the “crimes” perpetrated in Abu Ghraib while Iraqi election workers are executed in the streets and people’s heads are lopped off for driving a truck.

The irony and hypocrisy of this incessant carping act like patchouli on a stoned hippy making me want to vomit, and at the same time choke somebody. If contract interrogators want to give lap dances to terrorists in an effort to offend their religious “piety” making them break, how can anyone complain? I mean seriously, FREE lap dances; is that torture? Torture is spending an hour with that Nazi interrogator from Raiders of the Lost Ark or maybe an Ashlee Simpson concert, not a phreaking lap dance. I think we need to fight for this one, folks. Lap dance interrogations, if they work, cannot reasonably be considered cruel and unusual punishment. Besides, any culture that produces mindless killers that are offended by a lap dance richly deserves to be defeated by a little American ingenuity and some T & A.

Via Big Jeff @ PW

Call to Arms

Jordan over at Cheese and Crackers is looking for a couple of Iraq War vets to rebut a couple of modern day John Kerry wannabes. Apparently a couple of "heroes" from Iraq Veterans Against the War are scheduled to speak at UMASS-Lowell on February 2nd. Hopefully, someone in the Frogosphere can make it or knows someone who can. Let's put these idiots down and out of our misery early this time.

"Step Aside ... Butch"

For anyone who is familiar with the 90's cult classic Pulp Fiction this line is probably one that you might remember. If not, let me set the scene. Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) and Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) had been captured while in the act of attempting to kill each other by a couple of crazy homosexual rapists working in a pawn shop. The rapist in charge, Zed, picked Wallace to be his first victim by using the old, "Eeny, meany, miny, moe" technique. Butch was left tied to a chair and guarded by "the Gimp"; he subsequently escaped his bonds, knocked out the Gimp, and went to make a hasty exit from the house of horrors. But his conscience just wouldn't let him leave Wallace, his arch enemy, to such a despicable fate. Butch returned and slew one of the rapists (who was merely watching) with a sword obtained in the pawn shop and held the chief rapist at bay while Wallace freed himself. Now wielding a shotgun, and with the slobbery gag ball still hanging from his neck, Wallace delivered the line, "Step aside, Butch." And proceeded to deliver a round of buckshot onto the still swollen groin of his rapist.

Which brings me to the subject of this charming analogy. Barton Gellman writing in the Washington Post has described a quiet revolution taking place at the Pentagon in the intelligence collection business. According to the article, Rumsfeld has created a clandestine service directorate that reports to him, and works in conjunction with JSOC Special Mission Units. It seems that the CIA...

"naturally has interests that differ from those of military commanders, but they also criticized its operations directorate as understaffed, slow-moving and risk-averse."

Well, that's an understatement. It seems that Rumsfeld is not willing to wait "five years" for the CIA's clandestine operations capability to get up to speed. In fact, according to the story this unit has been up and running since 2002 which would actually have meant waiting seven years, for those who are counting. Apparently, Rummy ain't one of those counting.

So what about the Pulp Fiction reference, you say? Well, the way I see it, Marcellus Wallace is our military, and Zed represents terrorists around the world trying to kill our troops. The voyeurous rapist is the CIA, and Rummy is Butch. In other words, Rummy "cut" the CIA out of the picture, thus freeing up our special missions units to, "go to work on the Holmes here, with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch." This week, we'll call Ted Kennedy the Gimp.

No, Send ME!

The Barking Moonbat Early Warning System puts my fantasy into words. Enjoy. Oops, sorry this is the link.

Victim of the Week

In a terribly unfortunate turn of events, Ahmed Abdullah al-Shaya, 18 from Saudi Arabia was mercilessly betrayed by his former employer, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Proving once again that there is no honor among thieves, Ahmed who told Iraqi investigators that he came to their country to "to kill the Americans, policemen, national guards and the American collaborators," was unceremoniously blown up by his employer on Christmas Eve.

Apparently, Ahmed had graciously agreed to become a suicide bomber having been inspired to massacre infidels during last year’s “Holy” celebration of Ramadan. He traveled first to Syria where he was smuggled into Iraq finally ending up in Ramadi where he stayed at the islamofascist equivalent of the YMCA. He spent 1½ months with like-minded Muslims from Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen and Macedonia. Ahmed then moved to Baghdad in December to prepare for his final mission, which he expected to be as the suicide pilot of a bomb-laden car. But he claims that he agreed to drive a butane gas truck rigged with explosives on Christmas Eve only to leave it for someone else to pick up later.

"But they blew me up in the truck," he says. When the gas truck ignited into a fireball near the Jordanian Embassy, nine people were killed, including a family of seven whose house collapsed on them. The explosion burned Shaya on his face and hands but he was thrown from the cab and survived.

Ahmed has had a change of heart as a result of his experiences, and he now says that, “I want the Iraqi people to live in peace," he says, and he can no longer support Osama bin Laden because "he is killing Muslims." I for one believe the lad, unfortunately the Iraqi authorities in whose custody he currently resides, are not quite so enlightened. Ahmed has some choice words for his former bosses as well, "I want revenge for what they have done to me."

Oh the folly of youth. Dear Ahmed, they were merely trying fulfill your wishes of glorious martyrdom without unnecessarily troubling you with the nervous feelings of impending demise. Also, they thought you were a pussy and would likely chicken out or at least compromise the operation by driving erratically and arousing suspicion. So now that you have managed to murder nine innocent people, get your face burned off, and miss your best opportunity to get laid (72 times no less) what now?

How much is a Life Worth?

According to the Washington Times and recent media reports, Senate Majority Leader Frist is promising an increase in the military “death gratuity” from a paltry $12,420 to $100,000. I remember thinking when I first joined the Navy upon hearing about this rather generous “gratuity” that it was some kind of sick joke. The figure is so ridiculously low that it’s more of an insult than a benefit. This concept became crystal clear in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

While I feel tremendous sympathy and grief for the families of those unfortunate 3,000 Americans whose deaths signaled the onset of the Global War on Terror, I never understood exactly what basis these families had for the large monetary claims that they all received. Obviously these sentiments DO NOT extend to the families of the Firefighters and Police Officers who gave their lives in an effort to save there fellow New Yorkers. Those hero’s families deserve every penny they have received and more. The unlucky employees that were viciously murdered by the members of a death cult merely showed up on time for work that day at the office. That is not to say that their deaths were any less tragic or horrifying than those amongst the emergency personnel, but they are certainly less important.

I remember hearing at the time that the average “death gratuity” for the families of workers or visitors who perished in the 9/11 attacks was $1.4 Million. From the DOJ’s 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund is this page of claim summaries prepared by the Special Master as a guide to the anticipated compensation awards. Here are some examples:

A married laborer, age 47 with 3 dependents and a base compensation of $58,000, received an award of $1,036,556 after collateral offsets of $298,694.
A married project manager, age 36 with one dependent and a base salary of $231,000, received a net award of $3,481,491 after $939,680 in collateral offsets.
A single trader, age 34 with no dependents and a base salary of $100,000, received an award of $1,356,552 after collateral offsets of $150,000.

I have no idea how these calculations or determinations were made, but when you stack these sample victims up against a Marine that took one for his buddy in Fallujah getting 12 grand you understand my point. I am not opposed to the idea of helping the 9/11 families, but there could hardly be a greater contrast between the death of a man voluntarily defending his nation in combat and a person who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The irony is that many of those dead Marines in Fallujah joined the Corps as a direct result of watching their office working countrymen being slain by our terrorist enemies.

It’s nice that Congress is finally beginning to consider the value of our brave service members, but it is clear that this proposal is intended to serve a political agenda while placating veterans groups. It’s really easy to bump up the gratuity number into five figures, pat yourself on the back, and receive the accolades of a group of grieving widows. In fact Democrats and Republicans will be clawing over each other for some camera time with the troops when this bill is signed, but what will they have accomplished? Besides helping their reelection?

OC Update

It seems as if what was good for the gander isn't good for the goose with respect to Greg Haidl, gangrapist extraordinaire. In another pitiful example of favoritism from the OC Sheriff's Department (where his daddy was Assistant Sheriff)

Back in November, Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseño made sheriff’s department supervisors guarantee this rape defendant won’t be sodomized in jail.

Not that Froggy wishes that on anyone, but after sponsoring, filming, and participating in the chemically induced gangbang of a sixteen year old classmate, I'm not sure that he is entitled to any special protections from the inmates he has been spending the past several months with. Besides, his team of nine attorneys and four doctors told the judge what Greg is really lacking in the joint ...

"The kid needs love," testified Dr. Jeffrey I. Barke, co-owner of Newport Medical Consultants and Haidl’s latest physician. "He needs TLC . . . and they’re not giving him that in jail."

He COULD be getting TLC in jail ... sort of. Of course the tenderness and caring might be somewhat lacking, but the loving is not a problem. Well ... not so much loving per se ...

Hat tip SoCal Law Blog

Top Ten Reason To Read Diplomad

I don't know how these people function in the State Department, but if I hadn't been stupid enough to join Customs, I would have been a member of that blog. I was offered a job as a Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent, but I turned it down. Nevertheless, you should be reading Diplomad every day. Here's the list.

The Boston Six

The Boston Globe is reporting that four Chinese nationals and two Iraqis have successfully penetrated our elaborate border defenses possibly enroute to Boston via New York to conduct a terrorist attack. The tip reportedly came to the FBI from a Confidential Informant and has not been corroborated according to authorities. Governor Mitt Romney has canceled his trip to Washington for the President’s Inauguration to return to Boston to monitor the situation.

Right before I left Customs, we got a similar tip from a DEA CI about an alien smuggling ring that was operating in eastern Arizona that had brought in some “arabs” and had some more awaiting transportation. We also had a case about a ranch in northern Mexico that was being used as a safe house for “arabs” as well. As usual Customs management was reluctant to aggressively investigate these allegations because that would mean that they might have to spend some money or even answer their cellphones after 5pm. On the ranch case, I suggested that we purchase a cheap GPS and give it to our CI. I proposed that we set it up so he would just hit a button and make the ranch a GPS waypoint so that we could get some satellite imagery of the location. I thought perhaps we could get some license plates to put on lookout at a minimum, but my supervisor looked at me like, “whatever” when I pitched it. I had already decided to resign at that point, but that little meeting confirmed to me that it wasn’t worth it to live in a desert hellhole if I wasn’t going to be allowed to do my job.

I was in Reno, NV last weekend looking at property and I called upon a former co-worker who had managed to transfer out of our little $hitbox. While he was obviously grateful to be Reno, his opinion of the agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was much the same as everyone else I have spoken to over the past year. Agents from coast to coast have uniformly declared ICE to be nothing short of a total abortion. I mentioned before in an earlier post about the lack of gas money for Agent vehicles, and the basic fact that the US government is paying ICE Agents $90k a year to surf the web because they are hamstrung by management. The bottom line is that either the Agents I talk to from around the country are whiners with low morale or our primary border security agency is a trainwreck. At the end of the day is really doesn’t matter, the system is broken and the people in it are not motivated because they are not allowed to do their jobs.

With respect to the Boston case, I find it interesting that the FBI actually got the identities of several of the suspects and at least a broad outline of the concept of operations. This kind of intel is rare, and the CI must have a pretty good track record if FBI management is willing to go out on a limb with a public announcement about the case. Let’s hope we get lucky again, because the Lord knows we’re no good.

UPDATE: THE TIP WAS FROM AN ANONYMOUS SOURCE IN EL CENTRO, CA (MY OLD OFFICE!). IT'S A FAKE, SLEEP WELL BOSTON, NOTHING COMING OUT OF EL CENTRO IS EVER RIGHT.

UPDATE II: TOLD YA SO!

Frogmen in Phuket

Just like the rest of the US Navy and Marine Corps, the SEAL Teams are knee deep in the recovery effort in Thailand. The SEAL Teams have a long history working with Thai SEALs especially during the Cobra Gold exercise held in Thailand every year. For years Thailand has sent their best frogmen to our BUD/S training in Coronado, CA so that they can return to Thailand as a real Navy SEAL with the graduation certificate to prove it. Only a handful of nations send their best to be students at BUD/S, and although the standards are not identical to US students, they face the pain and cold along with us. Now we are returning the favor by facing their pain and helping out in a time of need. The Teams have also been providing Thai linguists to aid the recovery effort which is using the famous Utapao airbase as the hub for all flight recovery and assistance operations in the region.

Hat tip: Julio the brown irishman

Klepto Is Starting To Crack

"He's a good man," added the SEAL, wiping away tears. "He's a hero."

Those are the words of the prosecution’s “star witness”, Klepto the thieving dirtbag, describing his Platoon Commander during the Article 32 (Grand Jury) hearing in San Diego yesterday. Klepto went on to say that…

he witnessed the lieutenant strike or poke a detainee with the muzzle of his rifle in November 2003. The muzzle strikes, he said, were not intended to harm the handcuffed and hooded detainee he described as dangerous and noncompliant, but rather to "instill fear" and maintain control. (Emphasis added)

I wonder if the Navy JAG prosecutor bothered to ask him to elaborate on the difference between striking and poking? I would submit that the answer to that question lies at the heart of this case. If Klepto is now to the point where he cannot say whether the detainee was struck or not, how can this case continue forward? That distinction does not even begin to address the more important issue as to why these actions were taken in the first place. Klepto has also let it slip that Jamadi was dangerous and noncompliant, so it seems that the light of truth is finally beginning to shine on this shameful effort by Klepto to cover his own infractions by fabricating misdeeds of his Teammates. It seems that supplies are running low at the excuse mill this week …

Since returning from Iraq, however, the enlisted SEAL, a hospital corpsman, said he now believes there's no reason to strike a hooded and handcuffed prisoner. He added he never witnessed anything he considered cruel.

Even if it is disgusting and self-centered, at least Klepto is doing this for a reason. What is the NCIS’ excuse? How about the JAG? I can’t seem to understand their motivations for carrying this ridiculous case forward for one more day. The only witness they ever had for these charges walked into their office a thief and a liar. Now that the lies are falling apart under their own examination in court, what is propelling this sham? Even TV heartthrob, LCDR Harmon Rabb would have asked for a dismissal by now. Would Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs allow his fashion show rejects to continue pursuing this farce?

Eleanor, Just Shut Up Already

Via Blackfive

The military doesn’t like to get involved in humanitarian missions, and needed prodding ... The administration disdains the soft, touchy-feely stuff of diplomacy and foreign aid.

Oh really? Well let me tell you a little story about how I was “prodded” into a humanitarian mission. In the summer of ’97 I had recently reported to SEAL Team ONE after completing the year long Independent Duty Corpsman School at Naval Medical Center, San Diego. I received orders to go to Pattaya, Thailand for Cobra Gold, a month long military exercise that is conducted with the Thai Armed Forces every 2 years. Cobra Gold is considered a “good deal for good SEALs” trip and I looked forward to going except for one problem. I had already committed to going to Kenya with the 5th Special Forces Group to serve on Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) mission just days after I was scheduled to return from Thailand. As usual, the return flight was late, and during our refueling stop in Hawaii, one of the sailors coming back with us became violently ill. The sailor was taken to Tripler Army Hospital for treatment, and I was asked to accompany him and see to it that he was taken care of. The flight had to leave for San Diego without me and I had nothing with me but the clothes on my back. After squaring away this sailor, I had to arrange last minute commercial air transport to San Diego and I arrived in California the morning before I was to travel to Ft. Campbell, KY for the Kenya trip.

I spent the entire day packing and preparing for the MEDCAP, and had to show up at the Team area at 0 dark 30 to check out weapons and scramble to Lindbergh Field in San Diego for the flight to Knoxville, TN. I was traveling with a fellow SEAL IDC I’ll call MR and when we got to the airport, with a 100+lb. cruise box full of our stuff, a weapons box, and some kit bags we were informed that the cruise box was too heavy for union baggage handlers to carry (limit 40lbs.). We were told that we had to load it as cargo at a different terminal, so we checked in the weapons box and kit bags at the desk, and off we went to find transportation to the cargo terminal. The airport shuttle refused to let us onboard with the cruise box, so we ended up lugging it and our carry on bags 1/2 mile away to load it up.

Then we ran back to the main terminal because we were going to be late for the flight. While going through security, MR realized in horror that he had his personal pistol in his carry on bag and reported it to the security personnel. He was yanked off of the flight, and I had to continue on without him because we had already checked two M-4 automatic rifles and two Mk-23 .45 pistols onto the flight. We figured that the Team wouldn’t be pleased if those weapons showed up in Knoxville without someone there to claim them. When I arrived in Knoxville, I expected a couple of SF guys to be waiting there with a van to take me to the base, but I was sorely mistaken. I then had to rent two Smarte Cartes and haul the cruise box, the weapons box, and several kit bags through the airport and find alternate transportation to Ft. Campbell. After riding a couple hours in a base shuttle van with all of this gear, I arrived at 5th Group at 7pm. I hadn’t been able to reach MR all day, and for all I knew he was rotting in jail in San Diego. The flight to Kenya was scheduled to leave at 5am the next morning and I found a couch to crash on until then. MR showed up at 10pm with a case of beer, so we just drank until whenever, and got on the plane the next morning at 0 dark 30.

The flight to Kenya was a chartered 757 packed to the gills, and we rode on that plane for 24 hours stopping in Ireland, Cairo, and Djibouti before arriving in Nairobi. MR and I each took 3 Ambien pills and didn’t remember the flight, but we did get some pictures later of SF guys licking my face and jamming stuff in my nostrils while I was unconscious. So at least I had that going for me.

We spent a few days in Nairobi on cots in an aircraft hangar while the Army rented a bunch of trucks for us for the trip North to the Somalian border. We drove countless hours on “roads” that were about as bumpy as they were desolate until we reached the Sumburu Province where the Army set up a tent city. The majority of the SF guys were there to train the Kenyan Army, and a static line parachute jump was scheduled for the next day. When we got on the C-130, the Air Force flight crew made us feel at home once they found out that some Navy SEALs were on the jump. The pilots flew nap of the earth for an hour, weaving and bobbing along trying to make the SEALs puke. MR and I DID NOT VOMIT! But the Army surgeon with us and one of the AF aircrew guys did (I have pictures!). After earning our Kenyan Jump Wings, we proceeded further North to the first site where the MEDCAP would commence.

We drove in a convoy of Toyota Land Cruisers and trucks filled with medical supplies on seemingly impassable roads for 24 hours through an area riddled with bandits and various scumbags who were looking for vehicles to hijack. This journey took us through the heart of Africa for the better part of a month to various places where we would set up a medical clinic and treat the populace and their livestock for various diseases. We slept outside under the stars every night on cots with mosquito nets and woke up with the sun every morning.

Besides myself and MR, there were several SF medics, an Army surgeon, an Army Vet, some Kenyan medical and veterinary people, our Kenyan truck drivers, and an A-Team for our security. Each day we would switch between medical and veterinary duties. On medical day, I would see patients from sunrise to sunset with a Kenyan guy translating for me; from time to time I would consult with the surgeon on diagnosis and treatment, but not very often. During the MEDCAP, I caught several potentially fatal cases of Falciparum malaria in very young children whose lives were undoubtedly saved by our intervention. I saw something like 60 patients per day, and we treated hundreds of nomadic tribespeople for every condition in the Tropical Disease Handbook.

On vet day, we would vaccinate dozens of heads of cattle, castrate donkeys, and generally treat whatever veterinary issues that came up. I even performed surgery on a 2000lb. bull to remove a 50lb. penile tumor, but that’s a whole other story.

During our travels, members of our party were attacked by bandits with AK-47s, and the Colonel pulled us out of the field and back to the base camp. On the way back, one of the Land Cruisers broke the left front leaf spring on the rough terrain 24 hours away from camp. MR had the idea to take the winch on the front bumper and attach it to the axle and pull it into line. That vehicle amazingly made it back to camp, and we had a garage in Sumburu put a new one on before we turned it over to the rental company in Nairobi. I could probably write a book about our adventures on this trip, and someday maybe I will.

It was the greatest thing I ever did in the Navy, and I wasn’t prodded into it by anyone.

Freeballin' Frogs?

Yes dear readers, the secret is finally out. For once the MSM got one right about the military and especially the SEAL Teams. Slate's expose on the undergarments of America's warriors (or lack thereof) is right on the money. In BUD/S you learn early on that wearing underwear is a big mistake. Spending hours in the surfzone with salt water and sand in your pants is no picnic, but wearing tighty whities under these conditions is like strapping 20 grit sandpaper to your junk. Not cool. Just thought I'd pass along a little inside info that you really didn't want to know. Froggy OUT.

Just Trying to Get By

For whatever reason, my father has a subscription to the LA Business Journal and the usually bland content generally ensures that it ends up in the trash before long. But this story about the ongoing divorce settlement between LA billionaire Ron Burkle and his wife Janet provides a glimpse into the lifestyles of ultra-rich liberals in America today. Mr. Burkle is a BIG TIME fundraiser and donor to the Democrats and even “hired” Bill Clinton as a “senior advisor” to the Yucaipa Cos. which are mutual fund companies majority owned by Burkle.

We peasants can hardly comprehend what it is that uber wealthy liberals do with their largess, but this article provides a peek at living life to the obscene. The really amusing part of this sordid tale is that the contents of the divorce settlement negotiations seem to have been leaked to the LABJ by her attorneys in an effort to expose some of the outrageous “business expenses” that Burkle has been claiming to shield his considerable income.

Initially, Janet Burkle had sought $296,500 in monthly expenses, based on her estimate that the family spent more than $1.4 million per month, according to court documents filed in September 2003.

That’s not a typo folks, that’s $296k per MONTH!

“For the vast majority of our marriage – the last 20 of our 28-year marriage, my husband and I lived among the most lavish of American lifestyles,” she said in a September 2003 court declaration.

Nah, you’re kidding.

…Ron Burkle, whose net worth was estimated last year by the Business Journal to be $1.9 billion says his wife has embellished the life they led as a married couple. Under the post-marital agreement, which waives spousal support, she is entitled to half the marital assets, or $30 million. But because she contends the agreement is invalid, she says the spousal support waiver should be lifted.

But don’t worry; Janet Burkle is not being greedy…

“For temporary support purposes, Janet Burkle is seeking only enough spousal and child support to maintain a substantially less lavish lifestyle than she enjoyed during her marriage,” her accountants stated in court papers. (Emphasis added)

So what does this “substantially less lavish lifestyle” consist of? Well she has to put a roof over her head, right?

Recalling the five years she says she lived at Green Acres, Janet Burkle claims that the Beverly Hills property had eight bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a pool, a private screening room, wine cellars and underground tunnels, as well as a staff of three butlers, three maids, three security personnel and seven groundskeepers.
Apart from Green Acres, she says the family would travel by helicopter to a La Jolla estate, purchased in the late 1990s for $17 million. Ron Burkle says the residence was occupied by the family once a year, but that it was used primarily as a business property for hosting office retreats.

Unfortunately that helicopter crashed in 2001, but Mr. Burkle still has other means of getting around.

In addition to the six homes, Janet Burkle speaks of a Boeing 757 jet, as well as several other airplanes and helicopters that were “available and utilized not only for the conduct of my husband’s business activities but, routinely, to transport our family,” court papers say.

Of course Mrs. Burkle can’t be expected to lie around her houses all day.

…she says they had “pool circle” seats at the Hollywood Bowl, plus access to floor seats and a 12-seat skybox year-round at Staples Center. She has requested that they split the tickets or he pays her about $46,500 per month, $41,000 for Staples alone.

And what about vacations? Sometimes you just gotta get away.

…she describes annual vacations that included cruises to Greece with billionaire Eli Broad, in which they stayed in “suites in first class high-end ‘five star’ hotels,” she says. That amount of travel costs over $39,000 per month for her and her son, she claims.
He says in court papers that they took only two vacations a year and that many of the family’s trips were as guests of friends. His accountants had recommended reducing her vacation request by two-thirds, court papers say.

Of course she wouldn’t be a decent mother if she wasn’t able to host birthday parties for her son … and stuff.

Another conflict involves entertaining. Initially, she requested about $23,800 a month in movie premieres, birthday parties for their son, and other parties. This is based on the $100,000 events that the Burkles hosted, which included carnival equipment and Spago catering.

Finally, she has to put clothes on her back, right? I mean, she could catch a cold or something.

Among other expenses detailed in her initial request, Janet Burkle sought $9,853 in monthly clothing costs for her and her son. She claims she would spend $15,000 at a time at Barneys, and that her husband had hand-tailored suits and a designer who organized and created his wardrobe.
“I needed business attire (generally Armani) for our various functions (at least once or twice a week), gowns for black tie functions several times a year, many cocktail dresses, ‘lunch’ dresses, and attire suitable for garden parties,” she said in court papers.

Question: What is a lunch dress? Anyway, that’s how liberals blow $1.4 million a month. The article didn’t mention how much the couple had scraped together to donate to the Tsunami relief, but they did manage to cough up $132,000 for the DNC at a fundraiser co-hosted by Barbra Streisand at their Beverly Hills home. The event which was attended by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Lew R.Wasserman, Rob Reiner, and Sharon Stone, featured a show starring the Eagles, and emcee Tom Hanks raising $4 million for John Kerry and the Dems all told.

With the 212th Anniversary of the beheading of Louis XVI right around the corner on January 21st, it seems that the spirit of his charming wife Marie Antoinette, who lost her’s 9 months later, is alive and well. Except this time she’s looking to hold onto the cake.

I hope she doesn’t choke on it.

"He's a liar and a thief"

That was the sworn testimony of a Lt. Commander who was likely in command of the Task Unit (2 SEAL Platoons) that was sent to capture Manadel al-Jamadi, the terrorist believed to be responsible for the bombing of the International Committee of the Red Cross hospital in Baghdad on October 27th of 2003. The bombing killed more than a dozen people, many of them aid workers, and served as the impetus for several international aid agencies fleeing Iraq. The LCDR was referring to Klepto, the platoon corpsman who was dismissed from his platoon for stealing another Teammate’s body armor while deployed to Iraq.

At this point in the post-war insurgency, the presence and participation of foreign terrorists was just beginning to be recognized, signaling an escalation of the conflict. Jamadi was identified as a suspect in the ICRC bombing which quickly developed into a seminal moment during which military commanders and the American public realized that there was a long fight in the making. It was the following month of November when US casualties skyrocketed and President Bush made a clandestine Thanksgiving visit to the troops in Baghdad providing a much needed morale boost. In other words, capturing this terrorist was a very high priority because his attack signaled Al Qaeda’s grand entry onto the Iraqi battlefield.

The SEAL platoon working with the CIA in Baghdad was tasked with this very important and very dangerous operation against hardcore foreign terrorists that were the first jihadis to answer Zarqawi’s and bin Laden’s call to arms against the US. According to open source information about the operation, Jamadi fiercely resisted the Platoon's attempts to capture him. My supposition is that this mission occurred in a bad neighborhood, late at night and with just a few armored Hummers with heavy weapons. I would guess that this particular individual was probably making a lot of noise and perhaps firing a few shots from his weapon as the Platoon closed in on him. I would further speculate that the Platoon was acutely aware of the consequences of attracting the attention of Jamadi’s neighbors and felt a sense of urgency about a hasty exfiltration. Under circumstances such as these it would be reasonable to expect that some rough handling would ensue in an effort to minimize time on target. I would be surprised if the premises were searched beyond room clearing, and if the Platoon and the CIA had time to positively identify their subject or even thoroughly search him. The personal search and the field interview to determine his identity was probably conducted on the side of the road somewhere safely away from the residence he had been occupying. This is also where the pictures of Jamadi were most likely taken, but these were NOT the pictures of “abuse” that have been published worldwide by the AP.

Military prosecutors displayed a photo of a detainee lying in the sand wearing an orange pumpkin mask. The accused SEAL lieutenant, who was directly responsible for prisoner welfare, posed kneeling next to the detainee (Emphasis mine)

While no member of the Platoon has denied that Jamadi was struck with hands,feet, and weapons while restraining him during his capture …

A terror suspect captured by Navy SEALs in Iraq was able to walk on his own and was resisting his captors when the CIA took custody of him, according to a Navy officer who said he was the last SEAL to see the prisoner alive. The unnamed lieutenant commander, testifying by telephone from Guam, said the prisoner bore no traces of such a [fatal] beating. "I would have definitely expected it to show up on him," he said. "He would be hurting very bad, and he wasn't."

This description of Jamadi’s physical condition drastically conflicts with Klepto’s assessment of the detainee upon his arrival at Abu Ghraib as “lifeless”. It is self evident that the word of the Task Unit Commander who has made a career in Naval Special Warfare is infinitely more reliable than a junior corpsman that had been kicked out of the Platoon for thievery and deception. So how did he die?

Ask the CIA. But would they answer? Apparently not …

An attorney for a Navy SEAL accused of abusing prisoners in Iraq was repeatedly blocked from exploring the Central Intelligence Agency's role in the case of a terror suspect who died in Abu Ghraib prison after being captured by SEALs.

According to news reports, the courtroom was cleared on several occasions in order to submit Classified testimony in the case. Few people know the contents of that testimony, and only a few more will ever find out. What America needs to know about this case is that this SEAL Platoon performed its duties with heroism and courage and should not be made to feel ashamed for their actions in Iraq. SEALs are hunters and killers, not interrogators.

As for the corpsman who has shamefully betrayed his comrades in an effort to save his bacon, I feel a special embarrassment. As a SEAL Independent Duty Corpsman myself, I am quite aware of the interesting and special relationship that a SEAL corpsman has with his Platoon. Corpsmen are unique in the Teams as both healer and killer, wielding both a rifle and a scalpel. Most corpsmen in the Teams are not able to fill these roles with equal competence. Some are so intrigued by the advanced medicine that we practice that they somewhat shed their Froggyness. While many others hate being a corpsman and try to pretend they are just another member of the Platoon. I know that I strove to strike that perfect balance during my time, and I feel that I was a solid operator and a talented corpsman when I was serving in my Platoons. This conflict in the Teams makes being a corpsman a uniquely challenging occupation, and it’s cretins like Klepto that make life more difficult for the rest of the Docs out there trying to make it work.

Just Because

I have some inside information on the Scott Peterson case; I figured I’d throw it out there for kicks. I have a family friend who works at the San Mateo County Jail where Peterson has been staying for the past few months and I had an interesting conversation about his most famous guest the other day. This friend has spent several hours a day with old Scotty boy since his trial was moved to Redwood City, and he has no doubt that Peterson is a cold blooded killer. While this is hardly a newsflash, some of his insights are quite entertaining.

First of all, my friend told me that he NEVER heard Scott mention his case one way or the other to him or anyone working with him the entire time he was in jail. This is significant because anyone who is innocent of double homicide and facing the needle is likely to be very upset at the prospect of spending the rest of his life on death row at San Quentin awaiting execution. I don’t know about you, but I would be freaking out. Even if I was disciplined enough not to discuss my case, it would be nearly impossible to not betray my emotions to the people who saw me outside the courtroom … ever. This behavior has remained constant even after his conviction and subsequent death sentence which is all the more indicative of his guilt. My friend said that Scott is eerily calm even now, and is actually a very engaging and sociable prisoner.

Stranger still is a recent conversation my friend had with Scott about his upcoming vacation. My friend is going to a beautiful resort in a tropical place in the next few months with his family and revealed this to Scott. Without batting an eye, Scott related that he and his wife, Laci, had been to that very place a couple of years ago, and went on to explain in great detail about what a great time they had there. This exposition was made in a very conversational manner with questions and answers back and forth between the two for nearly an hour. At no time did Scott become emotional at all, and merely related the highlights of his and Laci’s trip offering suggestions to my friend about places to visit and things to do.

Now dear readers I know that this is not the kind of material that you have become accustomed to seeing on my site, but the story piqued my interest and I thought some of you might be entertained by it. At least now we can all look forward to the day 20 years from now when this piece of $hit is put down like a rabid dog.

Blue Falcon Alert

How many ways can the Teams be hammered, and individual Frogmen harassed before these guys get the idea that it’s not worth it to spend 300 days a year away from home risking their lives? If things keep going the way they are, I fear that America is going to find out the answer to that question … to its detriment. The fact that active duty SEALs had to sue a media organization over the publication of their likenesses which clearly puts them and their families at risk is frustrating enough. But now these men have to endure an NCIS witch hunt that is attempting to indict an entire squad solely on the word of one dirtbag who was caught stealing (another guy’s body armor) on deployment and $hitcanned from the Platoon.

As most criminal investigators would agree, filing criminal charges solely on the basis of the statements of someone who was himself referred for larceny charges (made by the same people he is identifying) is foolish and unprofessional. Does it not seem suspicious and convenient that “Klepto”, the scumbag corpsman, would make these allegations of abuse because …

"It just wasn't right."

Was it wrong BEFORE you stole your Platoon mate’s body armor or afterwards? I suppose his conscience was seared right from the start, but it just wasn’t convenient to report anything until he was sitting in front of an NCIS Agent answering questions about the gear he had pilfered. I would imagine that this body armor episode was not his first offense in the Platoon; it is not plausible that the Platoon leadership had not attempted to address similar issues earlier in training and on the deployment. In my experience, SEALs don’t just get written up for something and booted out of a Platoon until several attempts at remediation and rehabilitation have been attempted and subsequently met with failure.

When I was a Special Agent for US Customs, we would often use Confidential Informants to assist us in making cases against narcotics smugglers, and those CIs were nearly always crooks themselves. But then, we didn’t ask our CIs to testify in Court because they are obviously highly impeachable witnesses, and they were under a significant threat of death if identified as a snitch. CIs also need to be Confidential because they are not in a position to further a case if they cannot operate freely with the targets of the investigation.

So what do you call a person who is a crook, making allegations against people who caught him stealing from them, who tried to deal with it in the Platoon and who finally referred it to the authorities? A Blue Falcon, of course. What do you call an Agency that is desperately trying to live up to its TV Show billing by making a high profile case using an impeachable and exposed Blue Falcon? A Blue Falcon Flock?

Don’t get me wrong, most criminal investigators have had a case that just wouldn't move along, so they resorted to trying to indict their targets with the idea of getting the Grand Jury to dig into them until something shook out. But those are tactics you use on a dope smuggler or murderer, not a Platoon of Navy SEALs. I am hopeful and somewhat confident that none of them will ultimately be indicted, but these guys are already spending a lot of money on civilian attorneys not to mention the strain on their families. Did anyone count the cost of this little fishing expedition? I’m not talking about money, but about SEAL/SOF retention, and other things too.

I would surmise that on these Direct Action missions where the Platoon is tasked to assault a terrorist safehouse or bomb factory, that it would be well within the Rules of Engagement to just shoot all hostiles on the target during the assault. I mean a SEAL Platoon is not a SWAT Team serving an arrest warrant. If a SEAL Platoon was tasked, you can be sure that it is a high risk operation requiring stealth, surprise, and violence of action. When terrorists are captured and subject to interrogation there is at least the potential that valuable information can be gained that would serve to protect other US forces and Iraqi leaders in the area. But why should a SEAL Platoon take on the added risk of capturing terrorists when they are going to be subject to criminal prosecution for their trouble? Why wouldn’t they just follow the ROEs and shoot all threats encountered on the target? Charges can't be filed on anybody for conducting an assault if the ROEs are followed. But then the intel people won’t have information about an upcoming roadside ambush site or maybe Zarqawi slips through our fingers again. Maybe one of the terrorists knew about the place down the street where suicide vests were being constructed like the one the killer in Mosul was wearing. But if the NCIS and others keep breathing down everybody’s necks then that’s exactly the kind of information our forces are NOT going to have in the future.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it; this is not a F-cking game, this is a war. People are going to get hurt, and die, and kill, and hurt others. This is not a TV show where the “Crazy SEAL” goes postal and starts sniping people from the rooftop only to be bested by a 25 year old Federal Agent with a handgun and a $500 haircut. As Wretchard so aptly put it …

Unless it is wholly pointless and sadistic, torture is the act of substituting the torment of one person for another; the suffering of a suspect to prevent the suffering of the presumed victim.

These frivolous prosecutions send a message to those under investigation, and because of that there will be consequences far beyond the outcomes of these individual cases. Drying up a critical intelligence stream like this is going to have a profoundly negative impact on force protection in Iraq. I think somebody needs to tell the NCIS who the enemy is; they don’t seem to know.

Hang With Me

With the new property under my exclusive management, I have been swamped poring over last years expenses, billing records, the leases, building my new property database, etc.

Waiting to hear from the Naval Special Warfare Command as to whether they will participate or endorse the Adopt a SEAL Platoon/Family program.

If I hear another MSM hack ask an administration official about either stinginess or slowness to respond to the Tsunami, I will rip someone's face off!

I am enjoying the MS Sports Media's bewilderment at the A$$ Whooping that USC administered to the Oklahoma Sooners last night. That outcome came as no surprise to me, but every ABC analyst predicted that OK would win in a walk in the pregame show. Bob Stoops had a confused look on his mug the whole game, and well he should. The Trojans hung a half a hundred plus on the Sooners, Reggie Bush and Lendale White had 100+ yards a piece. 2 Wide Outs over a hundred, and Matt Leinart systematically destroyed OK's secondary with ease.

Earth to John Kerry ... YOU LOST! PUNK!

That is all for now.