Froggy Ruminations

State of the Union

2008-08-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

As is my wont, I am perpetually up to date on current events political and military not to mention sports, and when a confluence of events occurs to me that I haven’t seen anyone else recognize, I start itching to address it. It all started a week or so ago when Barack Obama essentially told a little girl who asked him why he wanted to be President that, “America is no longer what it could be… what it once was.” I actually agree with him and it has been bugging me ever since.

I have been reading about how many people are not really into watching the Olympics and I can assure you that I am not one of them. I have a deep appreciation for athletic excellence and to witness the yield of many years invested in becoming the best. I also enjoy watching Americans dominate the world on this peaceful stage and receive a “thrill up my leg” watching our athletes on that medal stand above their foreign competitors with their hands over their hearts relishing our National Anthem. I honestly get a bit misty every time I hear the Star Spangled Banner and especially when it is played as a serenade to American Olympic victory. But I get the feeling that fewer and fewer Americans share my deep and abiding pride for our country as compared to the past.

I remember most the 1984 Olympics in my hometown of Los Angeles where I was privileged to witness several of Carl Lewis’ historic Gold Medals (although we had lousy seats and I could hardly see). I recall Mary Lou Retton winning the Gymnastic’s All Around Gold, Zola Budd knocking down Mary Decker in the 3000m, and the crazy pastel/fluorescent color of everything in town. The Soviets and the Warsaw Pact countries boycotted in retaliation of Moscow 1980 and Afghanistan was the latest conquest of the Russian empire. Funny, the more things change, the more they stay the same. But there was one thing that those Olympics and that America certainly wasn’t lacking for and that was pride in our athletes, our city, and most importantly our country. Maybe I’m a weirdo, but there is no ecstasy like the feeling I receive when I witness my nation and its citizens living up to the ideals and history that make this the greatest nation the world has ever known. The only thing better that that feeling, is the sense that I am sharing it with the rest of America.

I haven’t felt that I was sharing it for some time now. It seems that all things wrong and evil in this world can somehow be attributed to America. It may be a trifling thing, but watching Bob Costas mocking US Gymnastics coach Bela Carolyi for cheering on his girls and invoking some ephemeral “journalistic neutrality” doctrine is a bit much. Who does he think NBC is broadcasting to? Why shouldn’t they be cheering for our athletes? Of course there are many more egregious examples starting with Iraq and extending through the current Georgian crisis. Ole Bob took care to mention while showing the medal count that it really wasn’t important and should not really be emphasized, but for all of you non-world citizens out there- here you go. What the fuck is he talking about? What else matters? I’d like to see a medal count that showed US medals and the medals earned by athletes who did not train for the Olympics in the US. Every other swimmer and track athlete that is in contention trains using our facilities, coaches, food, security and general comfort just so they can with their medals and say they beat the American guy. Well, I’d like to see Kristy Coventry of Zimbabwe set Olympic records training at home instead of at Auburn University.

Which brings me to the current situation where my own countrymen cannot distinguish the difference between our invasion of Iraq and the Russian invasion of Georgia. I’d almost like to think that these foolish people are simply advocating indirectly for their presidential candidate by taking such a ridiculous position, but then I realize that their willingness to throw our country and its foundational principles under the bus for a political candidate’s fortunes is an explicit act of betrayal as opposed to rank stupidity. But they aren’t all THAT stupid now are they? Am I questioning their patriotism? Indeed I am. We have seen this before. We all remember the nuclear freezers, the hippies, and now the modern Democrats. It’s just that back in the 60’s and the 80’s it didn’t seem like there were so many people so eager to disparage their country, its leaders, and their motives. Perhaps the concentration of these types of people in the press is giving them a disproportionate voice, but that voice itself is harmful and is doing harm every day.

This is a truly scary election as these self-loathing Americans are foisting their poster child onto the scene with a relish and sense of urgency that I do not recall. I tend to agree with Senator Obama about the state of the union, but I hope that it can be turned around. He just the guy who’s not able to do it.

Perspective

2006-10-16T02:06:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting in the airport this morning, waiting to leave North Africa and Ramadan behind me. While it has not been all fun and games, I have enjoyed my trip. Coincidentally, I started reading The Looming Tower on my flight over, what a poignant setting to digest this incredible work - and being joined at the hip for two weeks with a former general from the Egyptian police didn’t hurt either.

One of the highlights of my trip was an evening spent with The General, two other contractors working with us, and our guide Mohamed. After dinner at Mohamed’s riad, the conversations drifted toward my two favorite subjects – politics and religion. During much of the preceding week, Mohamed had punctuated his commentary on the region with not so subtle plugs for Islam. I must say that this was the first time I’ve ever been witnessed to by a Muslim. While the experience may sound altogether horrible to some, I must say that I was impressed by his passion and humility, not to mention the fact that his is just a nice guy, a good family man, trying to improve what he can within his sphere of influence.

Now listen, I know what you’re thinking, but rest assured – I have not changed my name to “Hamid” and declared Jihad. But I did hear, for the first time, a bona-fide Muslim tell me that what some folks have been doing in the name of Allah is dead wrong. That’s right, a real Muslim condemning terrorism. Mohamed went so far as to say that the people doing this are not Muslims. The General agreed, he has seen first hand the effects that the terrorists have had upon his country and has seen the benefit of the aid the US has given to Egypt to help them fight this scourge. What was discouraging though is the perspective I found among other, less learned folks.

Many of the people I spoke with, including the two younger contractors (also Egyptians), were predictably biased and uninformed. While not particularly religious, and having no particular affinity for the Palestinians, most folks just don’t like the fact that the US is involved in the Middle East. While their justifications ring about as hollow as those of the Democrats (indeed, they sound eerily similar), once their arguments are drawn out, it always comes down to the same two things, non-Muslims in Muslim lands and US support for Israel. It just burns them to no end that we will not let Israel’s neighbors wipe her off the map. They demand that we invest in and support their countries while at the same time insisting that we turn a blind eye to the open hostility for us and our friends.

Well, I guess I must cut it short as my flight is boarding, and none too soon, but it has been and good trip. I’m leaving here much more informed than I was before I came and more convinced that we can win this war, but we need not only to prove our resolve to the Muslim world but to bring reason and logic to the debate, in region where those two things are seemingly in short supply.

Pinheads

2006-09-25T14:23:00.001-07:00

Several days ago I received a forwarded email from a friend and former toadman, Walter Disney (no I’m not kidding). I don't usually read those forwarded messages, as they generally seem kind of hokey to me but this one wasn't bad. I won’t reproduce it here, on principal, as it included a line at the end about how I had to forward it to 12.2 million people or my eyes would be eaten by maggots. Nothing I hate more than being told I have to forward something - but I digress.

As I was one of several people on the address line and the responder replied to all, I received this message in my in box:

This is sweet and surely well-meaning. The service of our GI's is
beyond the comprehension of most of us. But insinuating that if you believe in Jesus, then you support the war in Irag, doesn't hold water. Please don't equate Christianity with right wing politics.
Yes, God bless our troops. And God, please help us out of this mess we've gotten ourselves into. Amen.
-TMc
PS Supporting our troops and supporting the war are two different things.

Well, needless to say I felt compelled to sort this guy out and you can read that below. While I was pleased at the responses from others of like mind thanking me for my response, I was a bit concerned that nobody else replied to put this guy in his place. If you’ve ever wandered what you can do to support the troops in this war on terror, here it is. Put these poor misguided pinheads in their place. Simply tell the truth. Truth and logic are light in dark corners.

There was a time (back when I first knew Walt) I truly wanted an opportunity to go to war. After meeting Christ, I realized that was no longer on the top of my things to do list and I left the military. Several years later I realized that I would probably be a much more effective fighter than I would have been back when that was my desire.
While I’m not glad that we have to fight the terrorists, I’m glad we are fighting them. Our war was not just with Osama bin Laden, but with a segment of the Islamic world (much larger than most comprehend or are willing to admit) that has a hatred for us and wants us dead along with Israel. And make no mistake friend, their hatred for Israel will never go away and will fuel this war until the end.
While a belief in Jesus does not automatically make you a right wing conservative, it certainly does impart some moral clarity. Moral clarity allows us to see that we were attacked starting in the 70’s and those attacks continued through 9-11, while we were not attacked by the same people we were attacked by the same idea, an idea shared by hundreds of millions. Do I want them to burn in hell? Absolutely not, I hope that somehow our Lord finds a way to cut through the lies they’ve been fed and bring them to salvation; however, that does not negate the need to fight when we are attacked.
I’ve heard the argument that Iraq was not directly linked to Al-Queada. Whether they were or not, they were a state sponsor of terror – proven fact. I know people who have done raids in Iraq that have produced intelligence directly leading to prosecutions and convictions in the US. Saddam was hosting known terrorists and paying the families of suicide bombers. And while we have not yet uncovered large amounts of WMD’s we have uncovered over 500 chemical munitions that were being hidden from inspectors, and we do know that there was illegal trade taking place under food for oil that involved munitions, dual use technology and chemical precursors.
Moral clarity allows us to shine light in dark corners and recognize what we find there. Moral courage allows us to deal with what we find in there. Sometimes we find hurt and pain that we must absorb, in order to bring a loved one back to Jesus – turning the other cheek. For those who have experienced this, it is an incredibly painful and demanding process that brings us into such sweet fellowship with Him that we almost wish we could stay in the pain just to stay close to Him. Sometimes what we find in the corner is evil that we must confront and fight, using every available tool.
While right wing politicians and therefore right wing politics don’t get it right all the time, there is by and large some moral consensus on the issues of the day. Facing terrorist enemies and fighting them there instead of here – right. Abortion - wrong. Standing up for the inclusion of God in the public square - right. Sanctioning homosexuality and perverting marriage and family - wrong.
Many don’t like President Bush - he is so inflexible. Thank God. He identified a problem, took action and then stuck by that action at great personal and political cost; all because he was convinced (in large part due to his faith) it was the right thing to do.
While you don’t hear it much in the MSM, there is much good happening in Iraq, the majority of people are still glad we toppled Saddam. Our troops have gone over and above the call of duty to try and limit civilian casualties. While there have been some horrific atrocities, they have been exposed and dealt with, and that - with a level of transparency that would not be found anywhere else in the world.
Sorry for rambling so much, this is obviously an issue near and dear to my heart. With so many people saying the support the troops, while at the same time playing politics with this issue in a way that endangers our troops and emboldens the enemy, I get a bit steamed.

God Bless America
Scott

Oh, by the way, I must now take a step back from my earlier post about the terrorists getting worked for eternity by herds of bloodthirsty transtesticles. That was irresponsible of me to take pleasure the eternal suffering of others, I guess I just got a bit carried away.

Osama bin Laden and 72 (She-Male) Virgins

2006-09-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

That’s right, based on recent exegesis of ancient Arabic manuscripts, some scholars are claiming that the Koran promises not just any old virgins, but 72 She-Male virgins, the big gnarly kind with man hands, five o’clock shadows and hairy bellies.

It is widely known that Satan wants to lie, kill and deceive. So it makes real sense that he would take great delight in the astonishment of the “faithful” upon discovering that they’ve been duped. While this is certainly ground breaking stuff and may ultimately change the face of the war on terror, what exactly does it mean for Osama bin Laden?

Well, as much as I love the thought of those he-vixens having their way with Osama for eternity, I’m just not convinced he is dead. Are you? After all, our evidence is coming from the French citing Saudis – now there’s a real axis of trustworthiness. But who cares?

Dead or not dead yet, in the grand scheme of things, it just doesn’t matter.
Sooner or later he will get his. Whether those virginal man-ho’s have already worn him out or they are simply biding their time until they get their big hairy paws on him, his fate is the same. Time has a way of catching up to us all. Take Saddam, he seemed uncatchable…until we caught him and trial schmial, he is done. Zarqawi the big bad beheader is dead. Has Islamo-terrrism ceased? Don’t get me wrong, we still need to hunt down bad guys but bin Laden is not THE problem.

The problem is Islam and grumpy Muslims who want to kill us. Compounding the problem are the fools in the rest of the world who have no moral clarity or, if they do, are not willing to voice it. When Clinton recently said he tried to get bin Laden (he didn’t try very hard but let’s get past that) he illustrated for the bazillionth time that he’s just didn’t want the program. Clinton simply did not want to man up to the war on terror. Killing bin Laden may have postponed the problem, may have bought a little time, but little else. In the context of this war of civilizations killing bin Laden is a band-aid on a sucking chest wound.

All the knuckleheads say they don’t hate America, they just hate President Bush. Wait a minute folks; President Bush is America, my America, an expression of American will. If they were to get rid of him, would they beat America? I think not. Will killing the Pope stop Catholicism? Nope. Neither will killing bin Laden stop the grumpy Muslims just frothing at the bit for their own little perverted den of paradise.

Speaking softly works great until you start swinging the big stick. Once you start cracking heads, speaking softly only serves to confuse your friends and embolden your enemies. Our war is not with Osama alone, but with hundreds of millions of Muslims who wish us harm or support those who do.

Long Overdue Update

2006-09-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

Whether you are a faithful reader, stopping by to see if the faithless have left something new or you've just wandered into this dark closet from some more vibrant and healthy part of the blogosphere, welcome to the ruins of the Frogosphere. For a while now, I've wanted to post a personal update and give explanation for my abrupt disappearance.

It has been a busy year; we are on year three of the renovation/remodel/addition (I've taken a crash course in drywall, tile and stonework, concrete countertop fabrication and other various and sundry subjects), I've spent the better part of 5 months traveling for business, and most importantly tried to be the best husband and father that I can be.

About this time last year, I was returning to work full time after recuperating from an ACL reconstruction. The ramp up was quick and between everything, my children it seemed to take it the hardest. At one point my oldest son asked me why I never had time to play with him anymore. Wow, talk about a reality check; I could almost hear Harry Chapin playing in the background.

At that point I realized that something had to go. I felt bad for leaving Matt to go it alone but I realized that he would probably get over it and my children probably wouldn't. While blogging was great and I sorely miss having the outlet and the discussion (many of my friends and colleagues don't know or care that Senator McCain is a wiener) I can in no way justify the 1-2 hours required every day just to stay relevant. And as moderation has never been my long suit an early retirement seemed the best option.

One thing about retirement though, it is boring. I miss the Frogosphere! With the election season approaching and stupidity seemingly rampant, I may allow myself some limited blogging. So without any promises, I'm going to try to kick this pig - in moderation.

Colorado State Frat Hosts Benefit for Naval Special Warfare Foundation

2006-04-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

If you're in Colorado on April 29th, CSU's chapter of Gamma Beta Phi is hosting a fundraiser to benefit the Naval Special Warfare Foundation at 1900 at the Colorado Springs Marriot.

I'd first like to thank GBP for stepping up and honoring the SEAL Community especially at a time when universities are not embracing the people who make their pot smoking beer bashes possible. Secondly, I'd say that if you have a heart for the SEALs, the NSWF is the place to honor them. I personally donate to NSWF every month, so rest assured that my money is where my mouth is.

HOOYAH CSU!
HOOYAH GBP!

Danny Dietz Memorial/Scholarship Fund

2006-03-22T23:07:00.000-08:00

I received this from Danny's mother, Cindy:

We the family of Danny P. Dietz have a memorial fund set up to raise funds for a bronze memorial and a scholarship fund to be given in Danny's name and would like such funds to go to Navy SEAL Danny Dietz memorial fund at any Wells Fargo Bank for contibutions.

As my traffic is way down, please forward to some active milbloggers.

Froggy OUT

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2006-02-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

Chances are THIS HK is not going to be very reliable OR accurate.

h/t Julio

Can Tigers Swim?

2006-02-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

On Hiatus

2006-01-29T19:00:00.000-08:00

Until further notice. Nothing is wrong, I am doing great and home from San Francisco. I'm just not feelin' it, and it has become a burden instead of an outlet. I don't know when I'll be back; it will take something that inspires me to bring me back to the blog. Don't email me to ask why; I just told you.

UBL: Closet Republican

2006-01-19T23:03:00.000-08:00

Once again on the eve of an important election, UBL has bailed out the Republican Party in general and President Bush specifically. His latest message is truly a late Christmas gift to the President and his supporters in Congress just like last time. It is the best possible scenario for him in two major ways. First, his “truce” offer cannot be seen as anything but a sign of weakness, especially coming on the heels of having four top AQ leadership figures been sent unceremoniously to Allah to receive their “reward”. In a negotiation, silence is golden. The first person to speak in this situation can only be construed as negotiated against himself. This is precisely what UBL has done. It is important to point out that in addition to offering a “truce” of sorts, UBL also reiterated his longstanding threats to conduct follow on attacks against the US Homeland. While it is hardly a news flash that AQ wants to attack us again, having UBL spell this out for a now complacent US populace can do nothing but refocus the attention of the American people on this clear and present danger. There is no way that this can improve things for limp wristed Democrats.

It is unexpected events such as these that demonstrate the ineffectiveness of a Party whose only policy contribution is capitulation and obstruction. For the President, having your arch enemy admit his weakness while making vague threats is a tremendous political opportunity. Bush is already leaving no stone unturned as far as repelling AQ attacks, and this reminder that our enemy continues to resist us will likely go a long way to shoring up support for the electronic surveillance programs that have drawn liberal ire of late. That is not to say that the moonbats will cease and desist- far from it- but their vocal objections from here on out will ring even more hollow in the ears of the American people. As usual, the hard left will turn out to be their own worst enemies as the 70% of non suicidal Americans will quickly grow weary of hearing that the President is an evil dictator for having protected us so effectively thus far.

As unlikely as it seems, there is someone on this planet more tone deaf than Congressional Democrats.

Froggy Does Frisco

2006-01-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

I'll be spending the next couple weeks in the city by the bay for business purposes so blogging is likely to be either really spotty or very frequent. Who knows? This is Froggy's first time in town so I am anxious to get out and about and see what the big deal is. Encouragement and condolensces may be left in the comments.

OUT

Cause and Effect

2006-01-13T23:51:00.000-08:00

Everyone agrees that freedom of the press is a good thing in addition to being an enumerated right as part of the First Amendment to the Constitution. But some things should remain hidden from public view. In their efforts to provide for the security of the American people, the government NEEDS to keep some things secret. It seems that this fact would be self evident, but there are some people that can’t seem to wrap their minds (h/t Discerning Texan) around this concept. It didn’t take long, but our nation is now beginning to reap the whirlwind sown by a few seditious and self promoting dirtbags. ABC News is reporting that a surge in the sale of prepaid (and unregistered) cellphones MIGHT have a connection to terrorism. Ya think?

It seems that groups of Middle Eastern men are buying up hundreds of these untraceable phones at retailers across the country. What do you think precipitated that interesting anomaly? I’ll give you one guess. Although I’m not sure that it will help them evade NSA detection, it is clear that terrorist cells currently residing in the US are attempting to do just that. At a minimum the revelation of NSA wiretaps occurring in the US has alerted active cell members that they have not completely eluded law enforcement scrutiny, and they are taking steps to change their tactics. The sheer numbers of cellphones purchased is a disturbing statistic in its own right. 19 determined terrorists were able to kill 3000 Americans on 9/11 (a rate of 158 to 1). The very fact that hundreds of these phones are being sought bodes ill for our Homeland security.

It was ordinary Americans who defied the admonitions of the ACLU and other liberal groups to take it upon themselves to use their common sense to report these bizarre purchases. My hat goes off to those Americans who showed more fidelity and loyalty to their nation than Senator Jay Rockefeller, Russell Tice, or James Risen. Those last three are each in their own way in a position of trust in our nation, and they have each shown that they cannot be counted upon to live up to that duty. Meanwhile the employees of Wal-Mart and Target had an opportunity to protect their fellow citizens, and they did so without asking for anything more than a paycheck that is likely a mere fraction of a US Senator, a New York Times reporter, or even a federal employee. Why doesn’t that surprise me?

Hooyah SEAL Training Video

2006-01-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

Enjoy Hat tip: Julio the Crazy Irish/Mexican Frogman. Yeah baby!

"As far as I'm concerned, as long as I don't say anything that's classified, I'm not worried…"

2006-01-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

Well, isn’t that special? I guess you forgot that revealing the existence of NSA ELINT surveillance programs is more or less classified Top Secret SCI, but then again why nit pick? Russell Tice is one of the traitors who were used as the source of the NYT NSA surveillance story and for James Risen’s book about the subject. He was on Nightline last night smugly recounting his deeds and calling it “whistleblowing”. What he was really doing was trying to wrap himself in the protection of Congress after having realized that the Attorney General was going to squeeze Risen and Lichtblau for their sources this time instead of just blowing it off. That’s a little something called blowback. Prior to the Valerie Plame leak investigation, reporters that refused to reveal sources were given a pass by and large. After Patrick Fitzgerald had Judy Miller thrown in the clink for a couple of months and with the President and AG signaling its hardball time, I’m sure Risen informed Tice that he would be getting thrown under the bus. It’s funny that the NYT held onto this story for over a year before using it to launch Risen’s book. Had they released it prior to the Judy Miller situation who knows what the climate would have been with respect to compelling reporters to reveal sources.

Real Whistleblowing is an important check on the profligacy of government and the abuse of power. Real Whistleblowing occurs when a concerned employee reports waste, fraud, or abuse in his sphere of employment to Congress, not the NYT. That way, the issue can be analyzed and addressed in a confidential manner, and the whistleblower is shielded from legal and other scrutiny. I’m afraid it is too late for Tice and his fellow traitors to seek Whistleblower protection, and hopefully he and his pals will be warming a bunk in federal prison before long.

Tice stated on Nightline last night that every American that had placed an international phone call since 9/11 had that communication intercepted. He went on to say in answer to Brian Ross’ question, that he was opposed to the program even if it was successful in interrupting a terrorist attack in the US. This is exactly what one would expect from say an ACLU lawyer or liberal Democrat Senator. In fact we know that this has occurred on at least two occasions. The other issue that all international communications are intercepted and “searched” for keywords like jihad, bomb, etc somewhat dispels the association between the purpose of the FISA Act and this operation. The FISA Act was written to prevent the FBI from surveilling political activists and “enemies” of the executive branch ala Nixon. That is clearly not the purpose of this program.

One more thing. The FISA Act requires the government to present probable cause that the subject of surveillance is acting as an agent of a foreign power within 72 hours. How exactly is the FBI supposed to prove that a cell phone subscriber in Florida is a foreign agent when they have no clue as to his location? That is impossible. What Tice, Feingold, and other liberals are saying is, “Yeah, the NSA program probably will save American lives, but even though it’s physically impossible to obtain that information in accordance with FISA, we’ll just have to do without it.” Wrong answer b!tch.

Somewhere, Over the Rainbow

2006-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Nobel laureate and all around pinhead Mohammed El Baradei and his cronies at the International Atomic Energy Agency will be removing seals from Iranian nuclear “research” facilities on Wednesday so that the Iranians can resume nuclear fuel production. It is unclear if this is in response to a recent request by the Iranians to the IAEA, or the result of longstanding objections to the inhibition of their nuclear weapons program. It stands to reason nevertheless that in the wake of the Israeli government’s confusion resulting from Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke, that the Iranians are going to take every advantage of the situation to try to move quickly forward with uranium enrichment.

The question of a military strike against Iran at this point is really more of a “when” rather than and “if”. The prospect of less stable and confident leadership in Israel makes it seem more likely that the US will have to take out critical nuclear sites on its own. As I have mentioned before, it was unlikely that short of a massive missile launch by the Israelis against Iranian targets, they probably lack the capability to hit enough targets to ensure the existence of the Jewish state.

In my opinion the lingering “if” question might be put to rest if the North Korean threat is thrown into the mix. It seems to me that there are basically two kinds of oppressive dictatorial regimes on the planet these days: suicidal and well…not suicidal. We can all agree that Iran fits quite nicely into the suicidal category, while Kim Jong Il’s DPRK narcissistic cult of personality regime personifies the other. By definition, a suicidal dictatorship is undeterrable and can only be dealt with ultimately by force or revolution. The strategic decision-politics aside-to take out the Iranian nukes essentially hinges on the likelihood of a popular revolutionary movement rising up and deposing key figures by subverting disloyal Army units against the Revolutionary Guard. I have no idea what the chances are that this might occur, but perhaps it is time to add a factor to the equation.

Whenever possible, I subscribe to the “kill two birds with one stone” theory of conflict resolution. This was recently achieved in Libya when its dictator opted for surrendering his WMD program instead of the program that he feared the President might be considering. Even though our invasion in Iraq has yielded very little in the way of taking WMDs off the street, it made Khaddafi crap his pants and give up his. Going ahead with a comprehensive pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear sites might just be the bitter medicine that arouses the latent survival instincts of the man who shot a 36 on his first round of golf. There is a good chance that an overwhelming intervention in Iran combined with aggressive naval maneuvers near the Korean peninsula might cause the great leader to rethink his divine status. Being born at the end of a rainbow won’t prevent you from attaining a fluorescent green glow afterall.

Counterterrorism by the ACLU

2006-01-08T00:49:00.000-08:00

We simply don't have the bedspace in our national mental health system to account for people like this.

Navy SEALs: The Movie

2006-01-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

I turned on the TV tonight to find the 1990 film Navy SEALs “starring” Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, and Bill Paxton. To say that the movie is hokey would be fairly generous. It was essentially a weak imitation of Top Gun, which seemed to exist only to parrot cheesy military cliché’s like, “Trust me with your life, not your money or your wife.” For the uninitiated, a strangely configured “team” of SEALs goes up against Islamic terrorists in Lebanon, climaxing in an operation in Beirut to plant demo charges on a stolen batch of Stinger missiles, but not before Sheen gets his Chief killed trying to engage a target instead of remaining hidden.

Nevertheless, this film was certainly responsible for an increase in Spec War recruiting, although I had already joined the Navy by the time it was released. There are some froggy scenes in the film that surely piqued the interest of potential recruits like locking out of a submarine and the obligatory skydive with Draegers followed by an underwater over the horizon transit. If that last one doesn’t make sense to you, you’re not alone.

The interesting thing about watching the movie again this time was that the “team” commander (Biehn) contacted an American journalist with connections in Lebanon to gain information about the terrorists and the location of the missing missiles. In 2006 America, this is something of a quaint proposition. Imagine a Newsweek reporter with AQ sources actually ASSISTING the US military in capturing or killing them. Unthinkable. Another refreshing aspect of the film is that the SEAL’s adversaries are actually muslim terrorists as opposed to some generic eastern Eurotrash with vague KGB ties. The only other film I can remember that dared to place the US military up against islamofascists was another cheesy spec ops movie starring none other that Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin, Delta Force.

Here we are four years and change following the most lethal terrorist attack in history that launched two wars and resulted in the deaths of more than 2000 US Servicemen and Hollywood doesn’t have the stones or is it the inclination (or both) to make a film pitting the United States against our most obvious enemy. Hardly anyone knows the name Paul Ray Smith, the soldier that was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Iraq invasion which saved 100 fellow soldiers. Suicide bomb attacks garner more media attention these days than the Marines clearing whole cities of insurgents on the Syrian border. The Washington Post even takes time out of its busy schedule of leaking top secret program details to smear a milblogger who left his family and job to risk his life in Iraq patrolling with the Marines in Anbar as a propaganda tool. Now that’s rich. The fact that a man felt compelled to leave his otherwise normal domestic American life to embed with Marines in combat so that the actual stories of valor and victory could be told to his countrymen pretty much says it all.

Discuss.

By the way, my favorite character in the film was Paxton, but not because he was a sniper with the call sign "god" wielding a .50 cal rifle with sights that switched from IR to thermal with the push of a button. He was the grey man. Quiet, unassuming with a thick country mustache and a dry humor. That's what most Team guys are like, not Charlie effing Sheen.

Pelosi-Ahmadinejad ‘06

2006-01-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

I bet you thought that the next Presidential Election wasn’t until 2008. That’s true for the country at large, but Nancy Pelosi thinks that she can eek her way into the White House early. It is this campaign that she and other Democrats are leading against the President that is putting the US, Europe, and especially Israel in grave danger. But then again, what else is new?

Most experts in foreign affairs see the looming nuclear crisis in Iran as the most pressing national security threat to the US in the coming months and perhaps years. When a suicidal islamofascist regime installs a former US Embassy kidnapper as “president” and calls for the extinction of state of Israel, it is prudent to take them at their word. When that regime actually gains the capability to make due on that threat, it is prudent to take them out. It goes without saying the MAD (mutually assured destruction or even the assurance that Iran itself will alone be made into a smoldering nuclear waste dump) style deterrence is not a viable state of affairs when one is facing people who think that they will only find quality virgins in the afterlife.

The problem is that Iran’s critical nuclear weapons production nodes are numerous and spread throughout its vast interior. It would be nice if the Israelis could just waltz in there ala Osirak 1982 and take care of business, but I don’t think they have the capability. The targets must be simultaneously hit, and hit hard the first time. There will be no second chances. Israel has no stealth aircraft, no widespread SEAD (suppression of enemy air defenses) capability for the scope of the operation, and insufficient refueling assets. The best they could do would be to put together a “one-way” trip, and sacrifice a large percentage of their air force and all of their best pilots.

What the Israelis lack in SEAD packages and refueling could be very easily supplemented by the United States, and it would clearly be in our interest to have a neutered Iran. The problem is that US-Israeli joint operations would inflame otherwise reasonable muslim leaders and populations around the globe. It would jeopardize our success in Iraq, and hamper cooperation with otherwise friendly arab/muslim governments. So basically, it’s going to be up to the US to handle this situation alone. European allies with the sac to get on this train are becoming harder and harder to come by these days.

This is where Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have been so useful to the national security interests of the United States. President Bush is certainly cognizant of these circumstances, and yet he is constrained by politics to effectively act to address them. He knows that if the Democrats win control of the House and Senate this year, he and VP Cheney WILL be impeached AND convicted. The nice thing about impeachment is that it is not so much a legal proceeding as it is a popularity contest. Whatever “evidence” of high crimes and misdemeanors the Dems decide to throw up against the wall is of little consequence compared to how many votes Nancy and Dirty Harry can muster. And therein lies the conundrum.

President Bush has to decide if he can take the political risk of attacking Iranian nuclear sites AND defend seats in Congress in ’06, or can he wait a year. Tough call. The Iranian nuclear program might be past the “point of no return” by 2007, and hell, the GOP could lose the Congressional majority anyway putting the President and VP out on the street early. Then again, he could start now to build public support for confronting the Iranians and nail ‘em before November hoping that the American people will recognize the gravity of a nuclearized Iran. But ever since the “Bush lied, people died” meme became fashionable, new military actions are likely to be just as saleable as Social Security reform, which is to say-not at all. So if San Fran Nan can get some of her own elected, she sees herself moving up to the big girl chair in the Oval Office.

“Pelosi-Ahmadinejad ‘06” makes good bumper sticker, don’t you think?

Teach Your Children

2005-12-24T20:45:00.000-08:00

About why we celebrate Christmas. Tell them about the child that was born on this day who became the Savior of the world. Then, next week tell them again. Repeat this until they leave your charge, and by His grace they will do the same for your grandkids.

Merry Christmas to the Frogosphere and especially my brothers overseas keeping watch over us. Froggy knows the sting of a Christmas in Asia, and I salute ALL of our deployed brothers and sisters for your service and sacrifice.

Froggy OUT

OUTRAGE! Bush orders FBI/DOE to check for evidence of Nuclear Material in the US

2005-12-23T15:35:00.000-08:00

This article in US News exposes the Bush Administration for the dictatorial and fascistic regime that 95% of Americans know it to be. Apparently after 9/11, Bushitler authorized the unwarranted use of Geiger counters near major US cities in a fruitless effort to locate evidence of “nuclear material” that they contend might be used in a terrorist attack. Clearly this is yet another instance of the oppressive “Big Brother” program of Bushitler to violate every last right given to Americans, even the right to have radioactive materials in the sanctity of their homes.

Oh, and it’s racist too! Many of the sites monitored by Bushitler’s jack-booted thugs were Mosques and the homes and businesses of people of Muslim-American descent. Just because 19 muslims hijacked a couple of planes (at least that’s what Bushitler tells us), doesn’t mean that a whole community and faith tradition must be subjected to these very intrusive and pernicious searches. Afterall, many of the searches were conducted in driveways and even Mosque parking lots! If a government agent can drive a vehicle into your driveway without a warrant, what’s next? Compulsory body cavity searches at the DMV? The systematic rape of all muslim women? Have you no decency, sir?

You want legal precedent? I’ll give you freakin’ legal precedent. Try on US v.Kyllo buddy boy. That’s the case where the government tried to use infrared sensors on a guy’s house who was growing marijuana to see if he had a bunch of high powered lamps on to enhance photosynthesis. Well, the SCOTUS ruled that cops trying to snatch some crops can’t use IR to find out if you’re growing hydroponic chronic. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Bushitler! The people have just as much right to have nuclear devices and dirty bombs in their houses as they do weed. Ever heard of the right to privacy? It’s right there in the Constitution, butthead!

So between listening to “terrorist” phone calls to parking their DOE privacy busting trucks into Mosque parking lots, we have a President who is clearly out of control, power hungry, and deserving of impeachment. Who’s with me?!

h/t HH

UPDATE: I don't know how to say this but this is an example of something called sarcasm. Please tell me that I don't write in such starkly reactionary form that you cannot tell when I am kidding. If I thought that my readers would take this post with anything but a grain of salt, I need to stop blogging.

Waiting for the "Civil Libertarians" to shift fire onto Clinton

2005-12-22T17:05:00.000-08:00

With all the whining and bitching going on about President Bush's use of NSA intercepts of communications between foreign terrorists and US persons, it is worth noting a very important parallel from the Clinton Administration. In the conduct of the FBI investigation into the espionage conducted by Aldrich Ames of the CIA, Clinton and AG Reno authorized a completely warrantless search of Ames' Arlington, VA home. I have no idea why Clinton and Reno refused to seek court approval for the search of the home of a US Citizen and government employee located within the Continental US. Perhaps they feared that Ames' CIA relationships might have tipped him off at the FISC, but that hardly seems plausible. What is most amazing to me is that a search of this nature did not initiate the "fruit of a poison tree"argument by his legal team. My recollection of the case is that he basically agreed to be fully debriefed on his treasonous activities in exchange for the US Attorney not to seek the death penalty for treason.

As a former federal agent, even one with border search authority, I would have been sued for a Constitutional tort if I entered the home a drug dealer without a search warrant. Not to mention the exclusion of any contraband seized from the raid. Critics of President Bush who are near apoplexy that he decided to use intercepted terrorist transmissions to fight terrorism, ought to have been convulsing and yanking out their hair over the injustice committed upon poor Aldrich Ames. Here is a man whose very home was thoughtlessly violated by jack booted FBI thugs without judicial oversight essentially taking the Bill of Rights and using it as toilet paper. Meanwhile, known terrorists are being listened to planning the demolition of the Brooklyn Bridge, and although the US based operative planning the operation was arrested and the plot disrupted, President Bush is pilloried by the MSM and Senate leftists for trampling on the Constitution.

Is it just little ole Froggy that senses a slight inconsistency here? Am I missing something? Aren't we at War?

Hinderocker blows the Libs out of the water here. Via HH

More on Eavesdropping

2005-12-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

This is an exceedingly complex issue, but nevertheless a vitally important one. I am not a legal scholar so I will resist the temptation to get into the weeds on the legal issues, but I have received 90+ hours of instruction on Constitutional Law while at FLETC which is about 90 more hours than 95% of the American people so I am not completely clueless. Nearly all of those 90+ hours were on the 4th Amendment (Search and Seizure) which is the most important Amendment to the Bill of Rights that pertains to the duties of a law enforcement officer. There are very detailed legal authorities inherent to the Presidency that have been argued by many, I will simply add another.

In my experience as a former Customs officer, we are granted broad border search authority that allows us to conduct searches of all persons, vehicles, conveyances, letters, and even electronic communications originating from outside the US and crossing into the US. These searches require no warrants, and Customs officers do not even need to substantiate these searches with any level of suspicion (i.e. probable cause, reasonable cause, and reasonable suspicion). The only thing that triggers this authority is that the Customs officer is searching something coming from outside the US and looking for merchandise or contraband. Merchandise is anything of value, and contraband is anything that cannot be legally present in the US. The Courts have very broadly defined these terms. Customs and now ICE is the lead agency for investigating child pornography in the US because nearly all images of child pornography at some point cross from foreign locations into the US and those images are considered contraband. I would argue that those images are just like terrorist communications in that they cross the border and are contraband.

Additionally, the President stated as his press conference that,

“First, I want to make clear to the people listening that this program is limited in nature to those that are known al Qaeda ties and/or affiliates. That's important. So it's a program that's limited, and you brought up something that I want to stress, and that is, is that these calls are not intercepted within the country. They are from outside the country to in the country, or vice versa.”

Meaning that the communications themselves are captured by means located outside the territory of the US. Yes, those means are under the control of the US to be sure, but just as terrorists seized outside the US do not have US Constitutional rights, neither should communications seized outside of the US. If I arrest someone for smuggling dope into the US, I have to deliver that person to a federal magistrate for an initial appearance within 48 hours. My SEAL buddies in Afghanistan or Iraq have no such requirement because a) they are not operating in a law enforcement capacity, and b) the people they are seizing are not entitled to the protections of the US Constitution. The NSA seizes communications for an intelligence purpose (not law enforcement), and those intercepts occur in a place where the US Constitution does not apply.

The NSA collects gargantuan amounts of data from all over the world every day in its mission to protect the US. Let’s assume that the NSA intercepts EVERY communication originating in Peshawar, Pakistan (which it probably does). I don’t know how much that might be, but it would probably fill up my hard drive before lunch every day. Let’s say on Monday the NSA obtains a phone call from an AQ guy to somebody in the US from a known “dirty” number (like from the phone book in the previous post) originating in Peshawar. Let’s also assume that the NSA has identified hundreds of thousands of “dirty” numbers around the world, and that these numbers change constantly, but the old numbers cannot be discarded just in case. The NSA might not even KNOW that dirty number X called someone in the US for more than the 72 hours that the FISA Act requires to submit warrant applications after the fact. Not only that, but at times the sheer volume of the warrant applications (due to the massive number of intercepts) would likely overwhelm federal officers from writing them all, and FISA Judges from reading them all in time. So, what is to be done?

Either the President by consulting the AG, Congressional leadership, and the FISA Court comes up with a way to use these critically important intercepts outside of FISA, but with legal authorities available in the Constitution, or he just blows them off. What about having the FISA Act amended you might ask? First of all, take a look at the PATRIOT Act, and tell me with a straight face that the request would not be used by the Dems as an opportunity to further the Chimpy Bushitler McHalliburton meme. And second, this wailing and gnashing of teeth would put the terrorists on notice that we are listening to their conversations (thank you NYT).

This issue is a political nightmare in the making for the Democrats, and for once the President senses that and is acting accordingly. Hotline (via Instapundit) is postulating a ’02 redux in the off year elections in ’06. That was when a triple amputee Vietnam Vet got bounced out of the Senate by Saxby Chambliss for opposing the Department of Homeland Security. It is not a far fetched proposition actually, and this issue lends itself quite nicely to the Democrats already bulging resume of weakness on national security. I have noticed that red state Democrat Senators have been keeping their pieholes shut so far on this, and there is every reason to think that they will continue to do so. The RNC will be able to plausibly tie their more radical colleague’s outlandish statements around their necks and toss them into the Potomac anyway. Keep up the good work Howie, Nancy, and Harry!

UPDATE: This article in the Chicago Tribune by John Schmidt is about as comprehensive an examination of the President's inherent authority to conduct warrantless wiretaps that I have seen and it is a must read. Via Jeff Goldstein @ PW

Eavesdropping on the Cowards

2005-12-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

In my very first post here on FR, I wrote about the arrest of a cleric made in Albany, NY in August of 2004. The case was opened on this cleric aka "the Commander" as a result of a SOF led raid on the Ansar al Islam terrorist camp in northern Iraq during the initial invasion. While searching the camp, SOF operators and probably CIA CSO personnel found a “little black book” of phone numbers which included the number and the address of the radical mosque in Albany. Ostensibly, this terrorist phone directory contained other phone numbers in the US as well as many from other foreign countries. I argued then that the Iraq War had already yielded information which interrupted a terrorist conspiracy, previously unknown to authorities, within the Continental US that, amongst other things, was attempting to obtain shoulder fired missiles for use on domestic targets. This small incident in and of itself demonstrates the terrorist connections between Iraq and AQ, and furthermore argues for the legitimacy of the War. But I digress…

Unexpectedly finding the phone number and address of an American cleric at a terrorist compound in Iraq would seem to be a pretty good pretext for opening a case up on that mosque and that cleric. As such, I suspect that the phone number was at some point wiretapped with the use of a warrant presented before the FISA Court, monitored, and a UC operation was launched in order to obtain evidence suitable for the 19 indictments that eventually followed. This sequence of events is appropriate under the circumstances in which the initial information was obtained, as there were no discernable time constraints, and the targets of the investigation (by using the discovered address) could be immediately placed under surveillance. There was no need for and additionally no evidence of the use of a warrantless intercept.

Assuming that the Ansar al Islam phone book contained foreign (OCONUS) phone numbers, names and addresses, a much different investigative track would have to be followed. The NSA has the authority and the responsibility to monitor ANY communications originating outside the US that might contain threats to US national security. The foreign phone numbers would have been placed on a priority monitoring status, and archives would have been searched to determine if those numbers had been monitored in the past. No warrants would be required as the numbers are foreign; additionally, due to the foreign locations and languages, adequate surveillance could not be initiated so the electronic monitoring and perhaps satellite reconnaissance would be the ONLY tools available to follow these potentially critical leads. With respect to the monitoring of calls from those foreign numbers to US persons, the only way to obtain FISA warrants PRIOR TO the initiation of any of those potential calls would be if a list of PREVIOUSLY called numbers in the US could be determined. Calls made from the foreign numbers to US numbers not previously known (it is tradecraft SOP to periodically change these numbers on both ends) could never be monitored under the absurd “interpretation” of the Constitution by liberals in the US Senate.

So essentially what the liberals are saying is that the US should not monitor calls from known terrorists abroad to previously unknown US co-conspirators under any circumstances. They are proposing in essence that only calls to terrorist co-conspirators who are well known and under surveillance already can be monitored. The idea that the US should put its fingers in its own ears and repeat, “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!” when terrorists communicate with their agents in the US is one of the most ridiculous and silly ideas that I have ever heard. Members of the Frogosphere already know that Democrats cannot be trusted with the security of the United States, but this highly political stance cannot be mistaken as anything other than the utterly irresponsible and laughably weak gesture that it is.

I am especially encouraged by the President’s rapid and forceful defense of this practice which has already compelled his leftist malefactors to take indefensible positions that they will undoubtedly regret at the ballot box. Timing the release of this story with the filibuster of the Patriot Act and the successful Iraqi elections demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt that the MSM and the radical left are one single purpose entity focusing on any possible method of attacking the President and prematurely ending his term. When Democrats make the same argument against wiretaps targeting terrorists trying to kill millions of Americans with eavesdropping on civil rights leaders and anti-war activists in the 1960’s one shudders at the implications of that level of timidity and cowardice.

Odds & Ends

2005-12-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

First let me thank the Frogosphere from the bottom of my heart for your kind wishes and prayers for my recovery. Day 2 was kind of rough but it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

I'd also like to thank you for saving me from the shame and humilation of finishing behind the Officer's Club blog in the Weblog Awards. Coming in 3rd twice in a row is more than I deserve and I'm glad Matt & Jimbo won the honors. Two SOF blogs in the top 3 ain't bad! Thunder6 is swingin' the pipe as we speak and I congratulate him not only on his strong showing, but especially for his brave service.

Quickies:

No matter what the McCain interrogation bill says, waterboarding not only works every time, it also doesn't leave any tell tale evidence except that some tangos won't smell so bad after they're done 'drowning'!

Note to the NYT/CIA/NSA crybabies: Trust me, government employees don't want to spend one extra second listening to you lie to your wives that you are staying in the hotel room instead of chasing skirts when you are overseas and all the Americans I know WANT the US to listen in on the bad guys so stop worrying about it.

Memo to Senate Democrats: Glad to hear you have your priorities straight. Now that we've won the GWOT, we can bag the Patriot Act so you can focus on the important stuff like winning back the House in '06 in time to impeach Chimpy Bushitlerburton, right Mr. Kerry?

Under the Knife...Again

2005-12-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

First thing Monday morning the other knee is getting fixed...finally. Your prayers and/or well wishes are very welcome. Will be on Vicodin for a couple days so if I do post, it might be strange, incoherent or both. If I don't, well, I guess Vicodin agrees with me. Merry Christmas!

Hey Governator, Terminate Tookie

2005-12-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

I know you had to go through the motions of considering clemency for murderous thug and Crips founder, Stanley “Tookie” Williams to placate your lefty Hollywood buddies, but now that you’re done, let’s get on with sending him unceremoniously to Hell. My general policy is capital punishment for all people named Tookie, but in this case there are even more compelling reasons. For instance, he executed a 7-11 clerk in Whittier, CA and laughed about it later with his fellow gangmembers. Of course, he also murdered an entire family in a motel room during a robbery two weeks later. His case was reviewed and rejected not only by the California Supreme Court, but also the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. I’m not even going to address his “rehabilitation” by writing children’s books or his multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize because they are utterly meaningless. Let’s hope that ole Tookie is backstroking in the Lake of Fire this time next week. Don’t let the Gates of Hell hit you in the a$$, Tookie. Bon Voyage.

I'm Not Going to Beg, But...

2005-12-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

I would hate to finish behind a blog called "The Officer's Club" in the Weblog Awards competition. I really don't care what place I come in, but for the love of God I DO NOT want to lose to a bunch of freakin' officers.

Go Vote!

Froggy OUT

Uncle Jimbo in the Christmas Spirit

2005-12-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

From Blackfive comes Uncle Jimbo singing a verse from the classic Holiday tune "Walking in a Sniper Wonderland". When I was in BUD/S, I was one of my class' cadence callers and this lovely ballad was often sung by my class as we marched to chow at NAB Coronado. Hearing Jimbo's heartfelt rendition really brings me back to those halcyon days, and brings a tear of joy to Froggy's eye. Go enjoy this important Christmas inspiration from Froggy's tadpole days.

FAM Drops Suspected Bomber at Miami Airport

2005-12-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

Preliminary reports suggest that the Federal Air Marshall who shot and killed a 44 year old man in the jetway of an American Airlines flight was justified in taking that shot. Apparently the man, a US citizen traveling from Medellin, Colombia, stated that he had a bomb in his carry on luggage. FAMs aboard the flight confronted the man and ordered him to ground in order to apprehend him and ascertain the veracity of his claims. Defying the FAM’s verbal instructions, the man reached into the bag he claimed was carrying a bomb and was subsequently shot at least once by a FAM. The subject succumbed to his wounds, but an inspection of his bag showed that he had not been in possession of any explosives.

I don’t know how this FAM can be faulted for acting to protect airline passengers under those circumstances, but I’m certain that somebody will do so. It really is disappointing to realize that under the threat the US has been under since 9/11 (and obviously before), Americans cannot agree that shooting dead a man claiming to be prepared to detonate a suicide bomb aboard an aircraft is not a victory in the GWOT. A small victory to be sure, but a victory nonetheless.

The floundering remnants of the 9/11 Commission came out just the other day with a scathing criticism of the Bush Administration’s apparent failures to secure the Homeland despite the fact that we have not been attacked in over 4 years. Amongst the “failing grades” issued by the Commission were those relating to airline security and passenger screening. Well, in this particular case, the passengers were screened in Colombia, and I’d say that the situation was very definitively “secured”.

Much in the same way a victory in Iraq will resonate as a worldwide warning to AQ that we mean business in tracking down and defeating them wherever they hide, putting this bombing suspect down sends a message to cells planning airline attacks that the FAMs are watching and ready to go to battle. When I was at the US Customs Special Agent Academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA, the FAM program was in the midst of its ramp up. In the past, FAMs were so rare that they would regularly turn away former SEALs and Delta Force operators, but although they have experienced massive growth, the focus on instinctive and tactical pistol shooting has remained. The focus of their training then and now was taking and making difficult shots under extreme pressure. When I was there, I met several friends from the Teams that were part of the training cadre for the FAM Academy, and it looks like it paid off.

Nice going Federal Air Marshall’s Service!

Dems to US Troops: “Happy Holidays, Terrorist Losers”

2005-12-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

Think I’m kidding? It’s official the Democrats have jumped the shark. Chairman of the DNC Howard Dean stated that, “The idea that we’re going to win this war, is an idea that is just plain wrong.” Not to be outdone by his Chairman, John Kerry said on CBS’ Face the Nation, “And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the–of–the historical customs, religious customs…The Iraqis should be doing that.”

It is hardly surprising that someone like Howard Dean would predict a US defeat in Iraq. Being a huge loser himself and Chairman of a party chock full of losers, I would imagine that it is difficult to see any serious challenge as being achievable. As for Kerry, it’s not like he hasn’t been down this road before; the only difference is that instead of slandering US troops before the Senate, he is doing it as a Senator. Frankly, I don’t know what to say that wouldn’t fall into the category of ad hominem attack, and that is not the way I like to write. So I’ll let you do it.

2005 Weblog Awards

2005-12-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

Let me thank the Frogosphere for nominating Froggy Ruminations for the second year in a row! I am honored and humbled to have made the finals again especially since some of last years finalists didn't make the cut this time around. The voting is going well so far, and in my opinion, Blackfive ought to win it again. He is the hub for milbloggery in the blogosphere, and with Uncle Jimbo in the hizouse B5 deserves the honors hands down.

Go vote and show your support for milblogs.

The Mind of Murtha

2005-12-04T23:48:00.000-08:00

I wonder if Congressman Murtha remembers what it felt like to be engaged in combat with a persistent but never victorious enemy while leftists in America screamed from the rooftops that he was fighting for no purpose in a losing effort. Surely from his position behind the trigger he could see how wrong they were; especially when they said he and his fellow Marines murdering innocents and torturing captives. Was it so long ago that he returned from war to see his compatriots spit upon and cursed that he can’t remember the bewilderment and perverse shame of being called a baby killer?

They say a child who was beaten by his parents is likely to beat his own children. It occurs to me Mr. Murtha is acting as a mirror that is reflecting the treatment he received as a young warrior onto the young warriors who are fighting a controversial but ultimately necessary war. That is not to say that he isn’t responsible for his behavior. Far from it. He took his licks as a man, and he is delivering them today onto men that have all by now enlisted or re-enlisted because they sensed the jeopardy their country is in and took it upon themselves to stand in the breach to defend us.

It is one thing to denigrate the service of men who were drafted, but quite another to tell a men that ALL left their families and put their lives in danger with the full recognition of not only the risks but the stakes. The Vietnam draftees were no less entitled to our gratitude and respect, but their service could more readily be dismissed as coerced and therefore they could be portrayed first as victims and then as destroyers once the tide had turned against them.

The way this leftist strategy has played out brings into sharp relief the folly of contending that one “supports the troops but not the war”. This is the same bait and switch the Democrats pulled on Mr. Murtha many decades ago, and yet as he has now risen to represent the people of his district he his returning the “favor”.

Not this time, Mr. Murtha. President Nixon was successfully taken down by his insecurities and with something more than a nudge from his enemies at home. His replacement didn’t have the strength to carry on, America cut and ran, and genocide ensued. This fight cannot and will not be lost in the polls, in the halls of Congress, on the battlefield or anywhere else. Even if you manage to take this President down, his replacement won’t quit and neither will our troops.

I’ve thought about why a man like Murtha would betray his countrymen in precisely the same way that he was betrayed. I have decided that I simply don’t care why he does it, only that he doesn’t get away with it.

Froggy OUT

What if Bush Lied?

2005-11-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that this contention is demonstrably false (if you are not wearing a tinfoil hat), let’s for a moment stipulate that the President did “hype” or even falsify intelligence so that he could obtain Congressional permission to go to war in Iraq. What significance would this stipulation have with respect to the early withdrawal of US troops from the region? Answer: NONE

The fact is that Saddam Hussein was a genocidal dictator that not only had WMDs, but actually used them in combat against Iran and also against innocent Kurds. Additionally, although there is no evidence (that is publicly known) that Saddam was personally involved in the planning or support for the 9/11 attacks, there is ample evidence of long standing connections between Saddam and UBL. Many high level contacts between AQ and Iraqi intelligence have been laboriously documented from UBL’s Sudan days to Zarqawi’s precipitous move to Iraq after having been wounded in Afghanistan during OEF. But that is neither here nor there.

The Iraq War has by any objective standard been an unmitigated success at not only preventing follow on attacks on the US Homeland, but also eliminating thousands of AQ operatives who traveled to Iraq to engage “the great satan”. The value of this last consequence cannot be understated. The rapid denial of Afghanistan as a base of operations for AQ was a necessity, but as a result thousands of AQ operatives that escaped our dragnet were dispersed throughout the region. The Iraqi battlefield has served as a magnet for these terrorists who likely would have been disposed to reconsolidate in cells throughout the world to plan and execute attacks against US interests and soft Homeland targets. By drawing them to a central location for their eventual slaughter, we have significantly culled the herd and continue to do so.

Make no mistake that AQ views Iraq as the central front in their war on civilization and have thus staked the reputation and survival of the movement on their ability to defeat the US in this arena. But they have sorely miscalculated and yet the die is cast. They HAVE to win in Iraq in order to succeed in the creation of a worldwide Islamic caliphate, and conversely the US MUST defeat AQ in Iraq if we are going to be able to halt the onslaught of murderous terrorists against us.

The US military is objectively kicking the everloving $hit out AQ in Iraq and the Iraqi political process is moving forward toward full sovereignty at an unprecedented pace. Even if we were being regularly defeated on the battlefield, it would still be in our best interest to win this fight if only to prevent the inevitable vulnerability that would follow if we were to withdraw in defeat. Back in the 60’s we could safely slink back to the States and hide behind our nukes, but these days there’s nobody to nuke and our enemies consider it a religious imperative to die in the conduct of attacks. In other words, there is no option but victory.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the long term strategic value of a stable and vibrant democracy in Iraq holds the promise of peace through strength while serving to defend the obvious economic benefits of preventing islamofascists from controlling a huge percentage of world oil reserves. We have already reaped rewards by scaring Libya into WMD disarmament and inspiring democracy in Lebanon and democratic inertia in Egypt and even Saudi Arabia. Not to mention a deterrent military presence to an increasingly belligerent Iran.

Contrary to the pleadings of Cindy Sheehan et al, the only way to view our combat losses in Iraq as a waste would be to cut and run before affording our soldiers the opportunity to complete the mission they have given their all for. In that vein, we now have the most lethal and battle tested military we have ever fielded which may well come in handy down the road. The synergistic effect of our unrivaled military proficiency coupled with the strategic and diplomatic effect of our victory in Iraq will serve as a powerful bargaining chip against the intransigent regimes that continue to threaten us.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Bush didn’t lie, but that is hardly a reason to withdraw even if he had. Moreover, the Democrats know this which makes their protestations all the more craven and politically motivated. The fact that a major political party and its adherents are willing to trade victory and by extension the sacrifices of our troops for political power will attest to their eternal shame. Fortunately, President Bush and our military are not about to let that happen.

Do You Remember...

2005-11-24T00:12:00.000-08:00

The President's Thanksgiving trip to Baghdad in 2003? I was watching football with my dad when they broke in with the news of the President's clandestine visit to our warriors in a very insecure Baghdad just 2 years ago. I cried my eyes out when he emerged from behind that curtain of cammo netting watching the reaction of the soldiers assembled for what they thought was going to be another BS speech by Bremer or Sanchez. I remember seeing the Secret Service Agent from the President's Detail standing off to the side just before he came out and I thought, "No way he's in Iraq right now." But he was. Here are his remarks to the soldiers that evening:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere. (Laughter and applause.) Thank you for inviting me to dinner. (Applause.) General Sanchez, thank you, sir, for your kind invitation and your strong leadership. Ambassador Bremer, thank you for your steadfast belief in freedom and peace. I want to thank the members of the Governing Council who are here, pleased you are joining us on our nation's great holiday, it's a chance to give thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings we receive.

I'm particularly proud to be with the 1st Armored Division, the 2nd ACR, the 82nd Airborne. (Applause.) I can't think of a finer group of folks to have Thanksgiving dinner with than you all. We're proud of you. Today, Americans are gathering with their loved ones to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. And this year we are especially thankful for the courage and the sacrifice of those who defend us, the men and women of the United States military. (Applause.)

I bring a message on behalf of America: we thank you for your service, we're proud of you, and America stands solidly behind you. (Applause.) Together, you and I have taken an oath to defend our country. You're honoring that oath. The United States military is doing a fantastic job. (Applause.) You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq, so that we don't have to face them in our own country. You're defeating Saddam's henchmen, so that the people of Iraq can live in peace and freedom.

By helping the Iraqi people become free, you're helping change a troubled and violent part of the world. By helping to build a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the Middle East, you are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful. (Applause.)

You're engaged in a difficult mission. Those who attack our coalition forces and kill innocent Iraqis are testing our will. They hope we will run. We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost in casualties, defeat a brutal dictator and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins. (Applause.)

We will prevail. We will win because our cause is just. We will win because we will stay on the offensive. And we will win because you're part of the finest military ever assembled. (Applause.) And we will prevail because the Iraqis want their freedom. (Applause.)

Every day you see firsthand the commitment to sacrifice that the Iraqi people are making to secure their own freedom. I have a message for the Iraqi people: you have an opportunity to seize the moment and rebuild your great country, based on human dignity and freedom. The regime of Saddam Hussein is gone forever. (Applause.)

The United States and our coalition will help you, help you build a peaceful country so that your children can have a bright future. We'll help you find and bring to justice the people who terrorized you for years and are still killing innocent Iraqis. We will stay until the job is done. (Applause.) I'm confident we will succeed, because you, the Iraqi people, will show the world that you're not only courageous, but that you can govern yourself wisely and justly.

On this Thanksgiving, our nation remembers the men and women of our military, your friends and comrades who paid the ultimate price for our security and freedom. We ask for God's blessings on their families, their loved ones and their friends, and we pray for your safety and your strength, as you continue to defend America and to spread freedom.

Each one of you has answered a great call, participating in an historic moment in world history. You live by a code of honor, of service to your nation, with the safety and the security of your fellow citizens. Our military is full of the finest people on the face of the earth. I'm proud to be your Commander-in-Chief. I bring greetings from America. May God bless you all. (Applause.)

END

My sentiments exactly...then and now.

UPDATE: Holly Aho links to a CSM story about the Marines fighting in Anbar Province who are so busy slaying insurgents that they almost forgot that Thanksgiving was coming. Man, what a life! Those guys are spending the whole deployment kicking doors and sending tangos to allah in hell. Kinda makes a broken old frogman jealous, you know? Enjoy your hot chow today fellas.

I am still alive

2005-11-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

Got back this afternoon after having not seen the blog since Thursday. I guess you people don't need me to get yourselves to talking and commenting. I noticed some, "Where are you?" comments in conjunction with a demo weekend so I figured I didn't want to pull a Chachi and make it seem like I went tits up on the demo range. Alas, as Reservists we were once again stifled by the Navy and had no demo to blow up, but plenty of ammunition to shoot. We had some great training in and refreshed some skills and especially tactics that are quite perishable if not used with some frequency. We have tons of pictures, but Naval Special Warfare policy is basically no pictures of anything unless they are released officially, so sorry.

We do have Direct TV out there in the boonies, in fact we have a state of the art compound out there in the nether regions of the desert. The whole Murtha issue was a very hot topic at times (usually mealtime when we were watching TV) and the vote in the House was also closely watched and vociferously discussed. This is somewhat of a departure from my recollections of my frog brothers in the past. Granted Reservists are somewhat more inclined to be politically aware than our active duty (deploying) counterparts, but there is an unmistakable attitude in the SEALs I spent the weekend with. As far as they are concerned, the Democrats are no better than our enemies in Iraq and actually more dangerous. The guys are very aware that this is a seminal moment for all of us veterans where we can either choose to be victorious or choose to be cowardly as a nation.

None of us wants to see the mission sacrificed for the political gain of the Democratic party which is exactly how my compatriots view their actions and words. None of us want to lose a war that we have already won. And none of us want to see our military returned to an era where it was OK to spit on veterans and call them baby killers. One SEAL told me about a corpsman who supported the Navy Parachute Team (Leapfrogs) and accompanied the Team to San Francisco where they jumped into the Giant's baseball stadium last season. This corpsman (who is not a SEAL) said that the Team was treated very poorly by the fans and the residents of SF and the term "baby killer" was in frequent use.

Don't think America's warriors are not watching the hystrionics in Congress. They understand that, as usual, they will bear the brunt of the burden for the decisions made by that body one way or another.

I'm Going to Go Blow Some Stuff Up

2005-11-16T23:16:00.000-08:00

Leaving on Thursday to go out to our super secret SEAL training facility in the California desert to literally blow some tax dollars for the weekend. I expect to be shooting, and using all of my creativity in inventing new and exciting demolition charges to explode. I just hope we have some interesting stuff out on the demo range to go to work on like old cars, forklifts, or a greyhound bus or something. I will try to remember to take some pix (unclass of course) to show some before and after. If we have some flex linear shaped charges I will try to blow some designs into steel. If not, I will simply overload some stuff and turn it into very small particles. Either way, I will be having a good time. I have to admit, Froggy's favorite thing to do in the Teams is to blow stuff up and set it on fire so I am looking forward to this weekend. See ya.

Rockefeller Files

2005-11-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

Powerline provides the transcript to Senator Jay Rockefeller’s appearance on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace which further demonstrates the absurd contention by Senate Democrats that “they didn’t have the same intelligence as the President.” I find Rockefeller’s excuse particularly weak considering the fact that he is the Co-Chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee whose job it is to oversee all intelligence analysis and operations conducted by the United States. After all, this man is in the unique position of being one of four people in Congress that can make one phone call to any intelligence agency in the nation and compel them to come before his Committee to testify under oath in closed session on literally any subject imaginable. So his latest charge against the President is that he and the rest of Congress did not see the Presidential Daily Briefs and therefore did not see the same intelligence used by the White House to justify the Iraq War. The assumption being that somehow there were these blatant dissentions in the PDBs that the President suppressed. Of course the Robb-Silberman Report which was commissioned by the President as a bi-partisan effort to determine why the Intelligence Community failed to accurately assess the WMD capabilities of Iraq, North Korea, Iran and other outlaw regimes did have full access to the PDBs.

“After a thorough review, the Commission found no indication that the Intelligence Community distorted the evidence regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. What the intelligence professionals told you about Saddam Hussein's programs was what they believed. They were simply wrong.”

This is on page one of the report which I’m sure Senator Rockefeller has run across at some point. The report goes on for 600 more pages or so outlining in detail how and why the Intelligence Community dropped the ball as opposed to pulling a “slam dunk”. Or perhaps the President browbeat the CIA into producing White House talking points in the PDB, but then again that doesn't jibe with how we have learned that the PDB is produced. I seem to remember Democrats on the 9/11 Commission going on and on about PDBs and how one of them in August of 2001 stated that,

“We have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat reporting, such as that from a [deleted] service in 1998 saying that Bin Ladin wanted to hijack a U.S. aircraft to gain the release of "Blind Shaykh" Umar 'Abd al-Rahman and other U.S.-held extremists.”

This sentence in the August 6, 2001 PDB was used the to bludgeon the President for having not interpreted it as a direct threat to the WTC and Pentagon and essentially sitting on his hands while some obvious threat to the US Homeland was ignored. This charge was made famously and repeatedly by Richard Ben-Veniste during his questioning (scroll down) of Condolezza Rice during the hearings. In the transcript it is made clear that the President requested information about UBL and AQ operations in the US, and that a CIA employee “self generated” the document. Which is what would be expected. The POTUS asks the CIA Director, “What do you know about XYZ?” The CIA Director goes to the people in the Agency that are focused on XYZ and says, “The POTUS wants your assessment of this situation. Have it ready for the PDB on Monday.” So everybody works through the weekend to knock this document out, and they know the President specifically asked for it and they obviously do their best to paint an accurate picture of the goings on with XYZ. So during the run up to the Iraq War chances are that no stone was left unturned by the CIA with respect to Iraq’s WMD programs. This is fully substantiated in the Robb-Silberman Report which is extremely unfortunate, but not intentional.

Frankly, the President said repeatedly during the campaign of 2004 that knowing what he now knows (that there were no WMD found) he would still have invaded Iraq because of the terrorist connections, the human rights violations, and the real possibility that sanctions would be soon lifted allowing for Saddam to reinstate his very effective WMD programs of the past openly. I seem to remember Kerry at the Grand Canyon being asked that very question,

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said on Monday he would have voted for the congressional resolution authorizing force against Iraq even if he had known then no weapons of mass destruction would be found. Taking up a challenge from President Bush, whom he will face in the Nov. 2 election, the Massachusetts senator said: "I'll answer it directly. Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it is the right authority for a president to have but I would have used that authority effectively."

So basically the President has been on the record for over a year saying that he would have ousted Saddam even if he knew that there weren’t any WMDs and Kerry would have given him the authority to do it. It just goes to show that this entire issue is a farce, a pack of lies, and frankly irrelevant because knowing what we knew before the 2004 election, we re-elected the President!

Liberals Are Unpatriotic

2005-11-11T23:21:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, you read that correctly. All you liberals out there that would rather score political points against the President and Vice President than win this war hate your country. Willfully LYING about how the US came to be in Iraq is not dissent; it is sabotage of our national security. Dissenting IN GOOD FAITH is patriotic. All Americans are duty bound to speak up against the actions of our countrymen when we feel they are acting in error. But repeating lies every day to get back at the President that beat you doesn't make them true; it makes you a traitor to this country and disloyal to the troops who are on this day protecting you.

If by legitimate dissent liberals could have convinced the American people and by extension their elected representatives that they were correct by substantially refuting Saddam’s possession and prior use of WMDs, his connections to terrorism including Al Qaeda, and his genocidal behavior toward his own Shia population, then we would not have gone to war. Liberals were not able to achieve this because Saddam was an evil dictator who actively and openly supported terrorism and had verifiably massacred hundreds of thousands of innocent people many by using chemical weapons. Those facts are not in dispute and never have been.

Liberals now claim that the White House essentially “cherry picked” intelligence favorable to the case for war and ignored data that argued against it. As “evidence” of that contention, Democratic Senator Carl Levin presented a declassified DIA report of a debrief of captured AQ terrorist Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi who told interrogators that Iraq was training AQ members in making bombs, poisons, and gases. This report was used by the President in a speech in Cincinnati given in October of 2002 to bolster his case that Iraq was a threat to the United States. The DIA report from February 2002 stated that al-Libi “was intentionally misleading the debriefers’’ in making claims about Iraqi support for Al Qaeda’s work with illicit weapons. Furthermore, al-Libi fully recanted his statements regarding Iraq and AQ in January of 2004 prompting the CIA to completely negate any information received by him. It is on this statement that the liberal Democrats are making their case against the President for deliberately ignoring contravening information. Sounds bad, huh? Well, unfortunately for you lying scumbags who are trying to turn Iraq into another demoralizing defeat for the US, the Director of the CIA, Clinton appointee, and Medal of Freedom recipient George Tenet stated in OPEN SESSION of the Senate Intelligence Committee that,

“[Iraq] has also provided training in poisons and gases to two al Qaeda associates. One of these associates characterized the relationship he forged with Iraqi officials as successful…” on FEBRUARY 11, 2003!

This took me, a knuckle dragging enlisted frogman, all of 30 seconds to find on Google, so I know Carl Levin’s staff saw it.

The National Intelligence Estimate is the amalgamation of the intel gathered by all branches of US Intelligence Community to include reports from allied intelligence services. It collates vast amounts of data into a consensus view of the given threat situation weighing divergent opinions according to their reliability at the time. A famous element of the 2002 NIE was the opinion of the State Department’s Intelligence and Research (INR) that aluminum tubes known to be in Iraq’s possession were not intended for use in gas centrifuges to enrich uranium as the CIA believed. That and Joe Wilson’s excellent adventure to Niger ought to nail the coffin shut on Iraq, uranium, and their illegal nuclear program right? Wrong. It seems that we just found 1.77 METRIC TONS of enriched uranium and “1,000 ‘highly radioactive sources’ were also removed” in Iraq but I had to link to a BBC report because the American media isn’t interested. So there’s a famous dissenting view that turned out to be DEAD WRONG.

You tell me who’s cherry picking. The State Department concluded that Saddam had no nuclear program and were rebuffed by the preponderance of evidence to the contrary in the 2002 NIE. So Levin and Senate liberals pick out a minority report by the DIA and essentially charge the President with what could be considered treason for having concealed it from the Congress. The fact that the Director of the CIA was still publicly using that information two months before the onset of hostilities in Iraq means that the preponderance of the evidence concluded that Iraq was in fact training AQ in bombs, poisons, and gases.

The Senate Intelligence Committee report from July 2004 categorically dismissed any claims that the White House had “manipulated” intelligence data in any way to build support for the Iraq War by suppressing dissenting views of Saddam’s WMD capabilities. The Committee found NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that intelligence officials were coerced into withholding intelligence exonerating Saddam Hussein from Congress. The fact is that very few Senators or Congressmen even bothered to have the CIA brief them on exactly what was known about Saddam’s WMD programs. It seems that 12 UN Resolutions, a Clinton bombing campaign in 1998, and the fact that Saddam failed to cooperate with weapons inspectors all the way up until the war began was enough for many prominent liberal Senators to make dozens of Senate floor speeches advocating the invasion of Iraq.

Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Co-Chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee said the following on October 10, 2002 on the floor of the US Senate,

“There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years. We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction.”

and

“I do believe that Iraq poses an imminent threat, but I also believe that after September 11, that question is increasingly outdated. It is in the nature of these weapons, and the way they are targeted against civilian populations, that documented capability and demonstrated intent may be the only warning we get. To insist on further evidence could put some of our fellow Americans at risk. Can we afford to take that chance? We cannot!”

President Bush never even said that Iraq posed an “imminent threat”. Hillary, Kennedy, Kerry and dozens of other liberals made similar statements in the run up to the war, but Senator Rockefeller is the one man who cannot make any excuses for having not received the most comprehensive intelligence reports. In fact, he probably spent more time with the intelligence an analysts preparing these reports than the President since his only job in Congress was to act as the ranking minority member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Many of my readers might remember Senator Rockefeller’s memo from November 2003 detailing the Democrat’s strategy for manipulating intelligence through disingenuous investigations targeting the President during his re-election campaign. Rockefeller stated that Democrats should,

“Prepare to launch an independent investigation when it becomes clear we have exhausted the opportunity to usefully collaborate with the majority. We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation of the administration's use of intelligence at any time. But we can only do so once.”

That trigger was pulled prior to the 2004 Election and the weapon misfired, so now the liberals have reloaded and are pulling it again.

I relate all of these facts to say one thing. While the garden variety liberal moonbat hanging on every word coming out of Cindy Sheehan’s piehole may not know that these charges of manipulation intelligence are false, liberals in the Senate are knowingly LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE every day. They are lying to gain an electoral advantage at the expense of the War on Terror and our troops. Paris is burning, Jordan, Britain, Spain, Turkey, Bali, Indonesia have been recently bombed, and the Aussies just rolled up a massive plot by AQ. The stakes in the War on Terror could not be higher and yet the Democrats shamelessly lie every day so that they can destroy the President of the United States. That is UNPATRIOTIC, and those who engage in this scheme are traitors of the lowest form. If you are a liberal reading this post and you followed all of those links and read that material, you now know. If you persist in this campaign of lies, you are UNPATRIOTIC, a TRAITOR, and SCUMBAG as well.

I Dare You

2005-11-11T00:35:00.000-08:00

Via LGF

Ernesto Cienfuegos of Aztlan, a group of Mexicans that believe California and much of the southwestern US still belongs to Mexico, has written an article that essentially threatens a French like insurrection carried out by Mexicans in the US. He believes that Los Angeles will be the focal point of this uprising and that it will spread across the nation much in the same way muslim discontent has metasticized throughout France. My response to that nonsense can best be summed up by the actor Clint Eastwood in his role as Dirty Harry, "Go ahead. Make my day."

I wouldn't stand by while Ernesto lit my truck on fire offering more welfare benefits, illegal alien tuition breaks, and Driver's Licenses. I can tell you that.

Happy Birthday Teufelhunden

2005-11-10T06:58:00.000-08:00

Just don't forget it is Navy Corpsmen that keep you all in business!

Down to the Wire

2005-11-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

OK folks, allow me to direct your attention to the left column paypal button supporting VALOUR-IT Team NAVY. Our goal is $21,000 by Veteran's Day (which is November 11) and we are about $4000 short. The entire fundraising drive is attempting to raise $84,000 for a very worthy cause (Voice activated laptops at military hospitals so that wounded warriors can communicate with their families). If the milblogosphere cannot come up with $84k in two weeks then that is a pretty sad state of affairs.

I WOULD BE VERY SURPRISED IF READERS OF THIS BLOG COULD NOT FIND $20 TO SEND IN TO HELP OUR BROTHERS WHO IN MANY CASES GAVE A LIMB IN OUR COUNTRY'S SERVICE AND DEFENSE. I AM NOT GOING TO BEG YOU TO DONATE BECAUSE I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO.

LET YOUR CONSCIENCE BE YOUR GUIDE.

UPDATE: The Frogosphere has made me very proud. I want to thank each and every one of you for your contributions, but if you haven't given yet I would encourage to do so. While the NAVY Team may have reached its goal of $21,000, the slackers in the Air Force haven't even broken $10k. The idea is to raise $84,ooo so let's take up some zoomie slack!

HOOYAH FROGOSPHERE!

FROGGY OUT

Bloodbath in California

2005-11-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

The entire slate went down in flames last night. I thought for a minute there we might be able to put California back on track and maybe start trending to the right. Not anymore. This state is solidly blue and it will stay that way. At least the GOP can use California as a science experiment for failed liberal policies and example of what not to do. I'm not leaving, but I'm not happy either.

Welcome to the Suck

2005-11-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

That is the catch phrase for the completely absurd movie, “Jarhead”. Well, if you went to see that movie, then you undoubtedly experienced the “Suck” for what seemed like an eternity. They might also have named it, “Cliché: The Movie” because it was basically the Gulf War edition of “Platoon” recycling tired military urban legends and patently false anecdotes. On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show yesterday he asked me to review the film and about an hour later, a friend and former Marine officer invited me to go.

The “story” of Anthony Swofford’s war service in the Marine Corps during the first Gulf War, it is a first person account of what it is like to be a $hitbird in the Corps. While it is always very easy for veterans to nitpick war films to death for every minute technical discrepancy that conflicts with the reality of military service, this film’s errors were so glaring and ridiculous that only patchouli stinking anti-war activists would be gullible enough to believe them.

Some of the more egregious and stupid scenes include:

During a training exercise where the Marines were crawling through mud beneath barbed wire, the Staff Sergeant running the evolution used live machine gun ammunition to fire over the heads of the trainees. A trainee becomes rattled and suddenly jumps up and takes a 7.62mm round in the head. The Staff Sergeant then walks over and yells at the now dead Marine for having been shot, and remains in command of the platoon. Impossible

During the Gulf War there are horribly burned Iraqis? strewn throughout the desert. Many of these burnt corpses are positioned in a manner to suggest that they were civilians bombed in large groups. During a patrol, a member of Swofford’s platoon is caught somehow playing or otherwise fiddling with a stinking, burnt corpse. Absurd

Swofford and his spotter (they are a sniper team) are assigned by their CO to shoot two enemy officers in an air traffic control tower at a military airfield in their sector. The two get in position for the shot and obtain permission to engage the targets only to be interrupted by a Marine Major barging into their hide unannounced. The Major informs the pair that their sniper shot is canceled and that he will be calling for an airstrike on the target instead. In response, the spotter (not the shooter) who is a Corporal has what amounts to a mental breakdown over the issue that they were not going to have the chance to shoot an Iraqi officer from 900m. The Corporal physically assaults the Major in the process of begging him to allow them to shoot the officers prior to the airstrike. Ridiculous

Upon completion of the “sniper mission” the pair become separated from their unit and are left wandering the desert at night. They eventually happen upon their unit engaging in a half naked drunken beach party complete with bonfires, loud music, and loaded weapons to celebrate the end of the War. Swofford remarks to his partner that he hadn’t fired his weapon during the entire conflict and fires into the air. This is followed by the entire unit firing full auto into the sky like the mourners at a Palestinian funeral. Unthinkable.

There are 10 more audaciously false and stupid scenes that lack any authenticity or originality. I never read the book, so I don’t know who to blame, the author or the director so I’ll go ahead and blame both. Swofford is a crybaby and a whiner who somehow thinks that he is special and uniquely qualified to judge his fellow Marines. Do Marines (or SEALs for that matter) masturbate without ceasing on deployment? Yes, but they don’t engage in homoerotic sexual simulations and naked revelries. This movie wasn’t so much a slander as it was a farce.

The only reason I went to see it was to review it for Hugh, and as far as I’m concerned, he owes me a link and the $8.50 for the ticket!

DO NOT SEE THIS FILM

Sorry

2005-11-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

Discontent

2005-11-08T16:51:00.000-08:00

While I freely acknowledge the fact that there is a significant segment of the US population (maybe 25-30%) that is strongly opposed to our involvement in Iraq and wish to see our troops withdrawn en masse immediately, these people are hardcore Bush haters and will never be happy until the US morphs into France (sans riots). The remainder of the uneasiness with the war in Iraq doesn’t consist of ascent to the concept that the war was a mistake or a waste of blood and treasure, it is more a feeling of resignation that the US is unwilling or politically unable to act decisively on the battlefield and in the intelligence arena. Now much of this sentiment is a result of the MSM either failing to accurately report the state of combat operations or uncovering and relentlessly promoting US embarrassments or failures.

Discontent would be more accurately described as demoralization. There have been so many events in this war that have lead to this sentiment, and it is this feeling that is present in the American electorate that the enemy, the Democrats, and the MSM are seeking to exploit. Take for instance the issue of the Abu Ghraib or even Gitmo detainee ‘scandals’. Much in the same way that the people of France are now certainly embarrassed at the spectacle their once proud nation has become, the unseemly pictures of Lyndie Englund humiliating detainees brought a deep feeling of shame over us all. That said, I do believe that most Americans want to believe that the CIA has our most dangerous enemy terrorists holed up in secret prisons and subject to rough but effective interrogation. It’s just that we don’t necessarily want to know all the details of it. That is why leaking this story to Dana Priest of Wapo is such an insidious act of treachery by the CIA/MSM/Democrat axis. Leaving aside the incalculable damage to our national security done by the CIA bureaucrat who leaked this very damaging information, bringing to light this sort of information is a premeditated attempt at a slow motion coup d'état by anti-Bush elements of the intelligence community. It will open the US up to a new round of international denunciations and hand wringing by liberal Senators in DC.

The White House and the Congressional GOP leadership have been lying down and accepting this death by a thousand cuts strategy by its enemies at home, while effectively prosecuting the war against the terrorists abroad hoping that victory itself will bring its own vindication. At this point, I do not believe that the Dems or the MSM have the capacity to recognize victory let alone the willingness to acknowledge it. That is why this effort by Senate and House GOP leaders is long overdue and desperately needed. The GOP and the President do not and will never have any control over the actions of the Democrats or the MSM, but they can damn sure bring the CIA and the State Department to heel-and they must. The CIA in particular has factions within it that have gone rogue and must be crushed and rooted out. As I said before, there are a great many witches casting spells and stirring the pot over at Langley and it is time for a good old fashioned witch hunt.

The President’s approval numbers are suffering for the exact same reason as the war, because Republicans feel demoralized in the face of attacks from liberals and the media. These coming investigations of CIA leaks by the Bicameral Intelligence Committees need to be conducted not only as a matter of national security, but equally as a political strategy. Put the Democrats and the MSM in the position of defending leaks of real classified information (not some peon’s name) that affects national security. Mocking the moonbat libs is not enough anymore; they need to be confronted directly. We need to be decisively on the offense on the battlefield, in the interrogation chamber, and politically at home. Anything less would be a grave disservice to our servicemembers who are fighting hard every day. The best way to shut up a liberal is to punch him right in the nose; it’s time to knuckle up.

California Proposition Roundup

2005-11-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

OK, I slacked on doing this one at a time so let’s get it over with. Vote Yes on 73 74 75 76 & 77

Prop 73 Parental notifications that minors are going to have an abortion. Contains a judicial waiver and does NOT require parental PERMISSION only NOTIFICATION. I would vote for permission if it was available, but it’s not, so don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

YES ON PROP 73

Prop 74 Teacher tenure will change current tenure rules so that teachers will have a 5 year probationary period instead of only two. We have a lot of turds teaching our kids in this state, and this proposition will help us to flush them. If you are a good teacher or married to one, you don’t have anything to worry about. If you are a slacker, maybe five years of keeping your act together will turn you into a dedicated teacher, or maybe you won’t bother trying to get a teaching job. Either way,

YES ON PROP 74

Prop 75 Paycheck Protection for union members that don’t want their lefty union bosses to spend their union dues on electing more liberals to the CA legislature (if that is possible). Cut the knees out from under big labor, and make them accountable to their members.

YES ON PROP 75

Prop 76 Spending Limits on the runaway CA legislature which is trying to turn the state into France by encouraging illegal immigration by offering more and more generous welfare benefits to people who have come into the state illegally amongst other things.

YES ON PROP 76

Prop 77 Judicial Redistricting is the last hope for a state that has been hopelessly gerrymandered into a failed liberal science experiment. How is it possible that the state recalled the Governor two years ago, but one year later NOT A SINGLE INCUMBENT LOST THEIR SEAT IN THE ENTIRE STATE?!! Because the pols got together in Sacramento in 2000 after the census and drew up districts in which they could never lose. A three judge panel would redistrict the state and the result would be voted on by the people of the state.

YES ON PROP 77

It is going to rain in SoCal tomorrow and many of your polling places will be different so look on the back of your sample ballot and mapquest the address so that you know where you are going. Liberals and casual moderate voters (liberals) don’t have the self discipline to make it to the polls on a rainy day. WE DO! GET YOUR A$$ OUT OF BED AND VOTE TOMORROW. THE FUTURE OF CALIFORNIA MAY DEPEND ON IT.

UPDATE: MY POLLING PLACE WAS CHANGED FOR THIS ELECTION TO THE DISTRICT OFFICES OF THE LOCAL HS/JHS SCHOOL DISTRICT. AS A RESULT, I FELT INTIMIDATED AND WAS THEREFORE DISENFRANCHISED BECAUSE I WENT THERE TO VOTE AGAINST THE WISHES OF THE CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASSOC. I HAD TO ENDURE THE PENETRATING STARES OF WHAT I ASSUMED TO BE DISGRUNTLED TEACHERS, AND I WAS BARELY ABLE TO MARK THE BALLOT THROUGH MY FEAR AND DISENFRANCHISEMENT.

A Memorial to Fallen Brothers

2005-11-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

On the grounds of the UDT/SEAL Museum is this memorial to the fallen from Operation Red Wing. Hat tip Trident 86

The Frog of Clubs?

2005-11-04T21:38:00.000-08:00

Aaron is creating a blogger deck o' cards and he has reserved the clubs suit for milbloggers like yours truly. He is running a poll in the left hand column to determine the order of precedence and the top four get to be on a face card. So if you think Froggy should be the Ace of Clubs (or even the Queen) then vote. If not, then vote for one of the other worthy milbloggers.

Hot Nights in Paris

2005-11-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

And I’m not talking about the Hilton progeny. I have to admit that I am feeling something of a perverse sense of glee and yet a deep sadness and foreboding at the recent developments in Franco-Muslim relations in and around the capital of France. That is tempered by the realization that although these islamist chickens are coming home to roost, the farmers are unlikely to learn any meaningful lessons from all of this egg breaking. It should hardly be surprising that when a modern western nation encourages the immigration of 6 million non-assimilationist muslims into a country with no jobs, and then offers this population welfare and free government housing that unrest was likely to ensue. When you don’t have to work or pay for your housing, you tend to have a lot of time on your hands. Time that has been spent with radical imams dispatched from Saudi Arabia and Al Qaeda recruiters from across the muslim world. This ‘civil’ unrest is one the most widely predicted outcomes to occur in a country that has been miscalculating domestic and foreign policy since its very inception.

If these riots were to happen in the US, there would certainly be a host of limp-wristed pundits and lefty pols saying things like Sylvine Thomassin the Mayor of Bondy, France,

“The young people are angry, what they are doing is to be condemned but as elected officials we can understand the reasons for their anger”.

But the difference is that the American people wouldn’t listen to them. It’s one thing for a mother to try to find out why her 2 year old was so angry that he smashed her crystal figurine on the floor, but it is quite another to afford fully grown islamists the same privilege for having set fire to a once great city. If you think that the PC rhetoric has taken hold here in America, France make us look like a verbal free fire zone.

Mr Sarkozy had earlier sparked some criticism with hardline comments saying the government would not allow "troublemakers, a bunch of hoodlums, think they can do whatever they want".

In France apparently it’s considered ‘hardline’ to call people who have rioted and burned houses and cars, shot at police, and generally turned the Paris suburbs into a mini Gaza strip ‘hoodlums’ or even ‘troublemakers’. After what has gone on to date, you would think that the French would be ready to go Tiananmen Square on their @$$.

All I can say is thank God for the Atlantic Ocean. When I was a boy growing up on our family ranch we had several sheep. One day, a pack of dogs jumped the fence and began to attack our sheep. By the time my mother and I realized what was happening, we ran out of the house to find the dogs literally feasting on our sheep as they did absolutely nothing to defend themselves or to even run away. The Spanish and now the French have lain on the ground to accept their fate as ravenous dogs tear at the fabric of their once great nations in much the same way. I never did get a chance to see Europe when I was in the Navy, and yet my wife and I have often dreamed of taking a nice long vacation there to see the abundance of cultural history that formed the basis of the United States. Somehow by the time we get the chance to go, I am not at all certain that the trip will be worth making.

After that incident with the dogs, my parents decided to give our sheep away to someone else and we never had another one on our ranch.

Kick Down Some Change

2005-11-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

For those who are Kicking Some A$$ for us all! Operation Valour IT

Hit the PayPal button and help our wounded warriors to communicate with a voice activated laptop. Do it now. Move!

UPDATE: Although the NAVY Team had been much maligned and dismissed as a contender in the Valour IT competition, we are routing the other services as of right now. We are beating the Marines and Air Force COMBINED by a $1000 and the Army is back about a grand as well. While I love to see the NAVY demonstrate its superiority over its sister services, I would rather see those donations to Valour IT increase across the board.

This link will give you the latest on the competition

The Secret Third Party

2005-11-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

I’m not talking about the Libertarians or the Greens; I’m talking about the CIA party. Partisans in the CIA and the State Department are waging a political battle against the President of the United States while at the same time providing much of the information the President needs to make foreign policy decisions. Have you ever wondered why the White House is so shy about touting the many successes in the Global War on Terror? Me too. The reason is that many bureaucrats at Langley seem to think that they are entitled to set the direction of US foreign policy instead of Chimpy Bushitlerburton the duly elected Commander in Chief and they are not afraid to leak damaging or even false information to make that happen.

Zell Miller has a very interesting piece (h/t Sean) out in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in which he quite convincingly postulates that this entire Niger/yellowcake kerfuffle was the result of a premeditated “sting operation” conducted by Valerie Plame using her husband Joe “Politics of Truth” Wilson as an unaccountable proxy to mischaracterize the situation in Niger publicly in an effort to influence the 2004 election. Unfortunately for the Wilsons, the British Butler Report and the Senate Intelligence Phase One Report on Pre-War Intelligence strongly rebuked their efforts. But a predictably complicit media made things interesting last November and has never stopped carrying the torch for the CIA and the Wilsons. Let’s not forget that George Tenet told the President two weeks before the War that Saddam’s possession of WMD was a “slam dunk”, and yet he allowed an active employee publish a book highly critical of the President’s decisions in the GWOT anonymously in the run up to his re-election campaign.

This is exactly the kind of schizophrenic behavior that makes the White House wary of the CIA. It stands to reason then that the DOD has massively increased its intelligence collection and analysis capabilities and increased it’s reliance on SOF. I would imagine that it must be a tremendous comfort to now have John Negroponte and his staff at the National Intelligence Directorate feeding him the mother’s milk of foreign policy as well as the presence of Condi over at State. Like Zell said in his piece the CIA has set things up in such a way that, “…heads they win, and tails Bush loses.” If they don’t like the way things are going, a few very juicy leaks to beltway journos is usually enough to get the White House scrambling, and when something negative comes out about the CIA, the media dutifully lays the responsibility at the feet of the President.

Now we find ourselves one day after the Democrats in the Senate pulled their Rule 21 stunt facing the issue of “intelligence distortions leading up to the War”. Which, if I recall, was somewhat heavily debated during the re-election campaign of President Bush. My question is this: knowing what we know about the relationship between the CIA and this White House, what are the odds that the CIA would have let the Bush administration get away with “manipulating intelligence” of WMDs prior to the Iraq War? How about slim and none?

A great Nation at war is in a situation where its own main intelligence agency is proactively working to stymie the efforts of its own Commander in Chief. This is a frightening and very dangerous set of circumstances in which the CIA being the shady and amorphous organization that it is, can drop the ball, allow a terrorist attack to occur, and face little if any tangible consequences while deeply wounding their nemesis in the White House not to mention the casualties borne by American citizens who count on both of these institutions for protection. There needs to be a Witch Hunt at Langley, because there is a hell of a lot of witches running around over there. The CIA operators in the field are by and large committed to the tasks at hand; in fact, many of them are members of the US military on a leave of absence. But the decks need to be cleared amongst the middle management at Langley before these secret moonbats are able to take down the President or worse allow WMD to get through to harm the American people. We don’t need any secret political parties in this country, but we do need to know what our enemies are doing.

Warriors Are Welcomed Home

2005-11-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

Longtime members of the Frogosphere will remember how the SEAL community lost 11 operators during Operation Red Wing in Kunar, Afghanistan in July of this year. A four SEAL recon element was compromised and engaged by a numerically superior force of an estimated 100 or so Taliban. The SR element called for assistance which was answered by two MH-47 helicopters from TF-160 carrying members of SEAL Team TEN and SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team ONE. One of those helos was downed by enemy fire as the eight SEALs aboard prepared to conduct a daylight fastrope under fire to help their embattled brothers. In addition to the 11 SEALs that fell that day, eight members of the 3/160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment perished in the helo crash.

SDV ONE welcomed home the platoon from deployment that lost five of its own. Trident86 from SDV ONE sent me this photo from the Team area acknowledging their losses and their accomplishments. Below the picture are some links to the posts relating to this incident. Many of them are from Scott King who has been indisposed, but with us in spirit.
Dark Days Ahead, Tribute to the Fallen, The Names, SEAL Memorial at the Punchbowl, Dangerous Work, The ONE, A Warrior at Rest

Notice Anything Different About THIS Nomination?

2005-10-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

Perhaps my memory is failing me, but I don’t recall this kind of reaction from the lefties the DAY Harriet Miers was nominated.

Chuck Shumer, PFAW, Pandagon One more, Think Progress

h/t Jeff G at PW

You know it’s a good nomination when all the right people are pissed off about it. Just like voting for the California initiatives, looking at the opponents is probably more revealing than looking at the supporters. I do have to give Chucky credit for snippiest remarks of the day:

“Like Rosa Parks, Judge Alito will be able to change history by virtue of where he sits. The real question today is whether Judge Alito would use his seat on the bench, just as Rosa Parks used her seat on the bus, to change history for the better or whether he would use that seat to reverse much of what Rosa Parks and so many others fought so hard and for so long to put in place…Judge Alito's visit to Rosa Parks this morning was appropriate. His record, as I'm sure Rosa Parks would agree, is much more important.”

Yeah, I’m sure Rosa Parks would be really wrapped around the axle over Judge Alito’s nomination. I do give Chucky mad props for so shamelessly using the death of an American Civil Rights Icon to immediate political advantage. That immediately reminded me of Hillary coming strong with the gun control meme right after the Columbine massacre. New York is very fortunate to have not one, but two world class mendacious hacks occupying both Senate seats.

Not to be outdone by some baby kissing pol, John Roberts of CBSNEWS characterized the nomination of a man who has spent the last 15 years as a distinguished appellate judge as “sloppy seconds.”

Chris Matthews is reported to have “outed” some racists on the left in today’s Hardball episode. Reading from a Democratic talking points fax:

“I’m sitting here holding in my hands a disgusting document, put out not for attribution. But it come from the Democrats, they are circulating it, I can say that. It's a complaint sheet against judge Alito's nomination. The first thing they nail about this Italian-American is he failed to win a mob conviction in 1988. They nail him on not putting Italian mobsters in jail. Why would they bring this up this ethnically-charged issue?"

Just off the top of my head I’d say that they will do or say anything it takes to destroy a nominee that they are opposed to while simultaneously holding conservatives to absurd standards with respect to racial comments all the while slandering Italians, blacks, Hispanics or anybody else that gets between them and government sponsored abortion. Or something like that.

My favorite is the “Scalito” blast that the entire MSM has adopted as a racist pet name combining the Italian surnames of nominee Samuel Alito and current Justice Antonin Scalia. Isn’t it so cute that these two dagos kinda look alike and are both conservative and such? I almost wish the President had nominated Emilio Garza or Miguel Estrada just so I could hear the Dems refer to him as “Dirty Sanchez.” NOT!

These are all very positive developments on balance, as they show the left flailing wildly from day one already making fools of themselves demonizing a man that looks like a slightly dorky dad from a dozen Hollywood movies. It is not going to stick. Sit back and enjoy the spectacle, we are about to witness the resurrection of the Bush Presidency.

Slick move of the day goes to the President for having nominated a candidate from the home state and judicial circuit of Judicial Committee Chairman Specter. This puts the squishy pro-abortion Republican in the position of having to consider the ramifications of punching out a fellow Pennsylvanian while attempting to reconcile that conflict with his fawning NARAL buddies. Touche' Mr. President!

Scooter is Going to Jail…

2005-10-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

Because he is stupid. I listened to the press conference by Patrick Fitzgerald, (indictment here) and if what he alleges is true and he can prove that it is true, Libby is in deep Kimchee. As a former federal agent whose job is was to investigate and build cases against liars, I would have been all over Libby like a cheap suit. The old Washington adage that you get burned for the cover up instead of the crime once again holds true.

The way I understand Fitzgerald’s summation, Libby told the FBI and the Grand Jury that although he had heard that Valerie Plame was CIA from government officials in the past, he had forgotten it, and was told by Tim Russert about Plame and considered it to be as if he learned it anew. Excuse me, but if somebody that I interviewed told me that bullsh*t and expected to get away with it, they would be sorely mistaken. That would really piss me off to have a person in Libby’s position attempt to sell me on a weak a$$ story like that. Not to mention that you could hardly pick a more hostile MSM reporter to pin your hopes of substantiating your lame story to than Tim Russert.

Additionally, a cursory examination of the statute that was initially alleged to have been violated to wit, exposing the identity of a covert agent should have instantly been dismissed as a viable line of prosecution by Libby’s attorneys. This has been borne out in that Rove, who was apparently truthful with the FBI and the Grand Jury, was not indicted for anything despite clearly having “leaked” Plame’s identity to reporters. Libby basically had two choices: a) With the understanding that Plame was not in fact a covert agent at the time of her “outing”, he could have freely told the FBI and the GJ that he’d heard about her from several government sources and passed that along to Miller and Cooper or b) Concoct a weak and implausible story that was guaranteed to be blown out of the water by Tim Russert. He chose B. That was dumb.

He will plea this down and spend 6 months in jail. He should do this quickly and get it over with.

By the way, Valerie Plame never was some kind of James Bond secret agent spanning the globe in search of America's enemies. She wasn't running and recruiting informants amongst the enemies of America. She wasn't down at Gitmo smearing menstrual blood on pious AQ psychopaths. She was an analyst in the WMD section of the Directorate of Intelligence not a Clandestine Service Officer in the Directorate of Operations. There is a difference. A huge freaking difference. Outing a CSO would have been a very irresponsible breach of national security. Outing an analyst mother of four is inconvenient for her, but doesn't put her at risk or affect national security.

As to the issue of Libby acting maliciously to somehow punish Joe "Politics of Truth" Wilson by attacking his wife, that is an MSM fantasy as well. Wilson falsely stated in his NYT op-ed that his mission to Niger was commissioned by the Vice President. As the VP's Chief of Staff, Libby would have been asked about this by a multitude of reporters. I can hardly blame him for attempting to correct the perception that the VP was responsible for sending the man who was then attacking him. Why wouldn't Libby tell those reporters in response to that question, "We didn't send that turd. His wife got him the job." Especially since he did know that Plame was a keyboard commando and not a Bond girl over at CIA.

UPDATE: Full Disclosure Alert: I may be incorrect that she was Directorate of Intelligence v. Directorate of Operations. That said, if she was considered to be at all covert, Rove and Libby would have been nailed for the underlying matter and they were not.

Let’s Have a Fight, Shall We?

2005-10-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

My candidate for SCOTUS to replace Harriet Miers is none other than Miguel Estrada. Estrada pretty much started the whole issue of judicial filibustering when his nomination to the DC Circuit Court failed to reach cloture in the Senate 7 times. As a reminder, Estrada was born and raised in Honduras and emigrated to the US at the age of 17, learned English, and went on to graduate cum laude from Columbia and Harvard Law. Not that I really care where somebody went to college, but hey, that’s a pretty impressive achievement considering. Estrada was maligned by far left Hispanic victim-identity groups as being not Hispanic enough.

"Being Hispanic for us means much more than having a surname," said New Jersey Rep. Bob Menendez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. "It means having some relationship with the reality of what it is to live in this country as a Hispanic American." Even though Estrada is of Hispanic origin, and even though he lives in this country, Menendez argued, he falls short of being a true Hispanic. "Mr. Estrada told us that him being Hispanic he sees having absolutely nothing to do with his experience or his role as a federal court judge. That's what he said to us." Menendez found that deeply troubling.
But Menendez was relatively kind to Estrada compared to the representatives of Hispanic interest groups. Angelo Falcon, an official of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, railed about the "Latino Horatio Alger story that's been concocted" about Estrada's success and, more generally, about the "concocted, invented Latino imagery" of Estrada's life.

Which is particularly ironic since Mr. Estrada is actually from “Latin America” having been born and raised there, unlike his critics who are most likely native born US citizens. Of course, this kind of “what are you doin’ off the plantation/out of the lettuce patch” racism from the left is regularly ignored by the MSM. In a very recent example of this blatant racist sentiment on the left, I present to you a blog by some pinhead liberal named Steve Gilliard who photoshopped Maryland Lt. Governor and Republican Senate Candidate Michael Steele into a “Mammy” black face and referred to him as Simple Sambo. That picture is perhaps the most overtly racist image I have seen in my life.

The vehement opposition to Estrada's nomination to the DC Circuit by extreme leftist groups in the past makes me feel extremely comfortable with his conservative bonafides, but it is his experience in the Solicitor General’s office that establishes his Con Law abilities. The Solicitor General argues cases before the SCOTUS on behalf of the President. The beauty of SCOTUS candidates having this experience is that not only is it outstanding preparation for being a SCOTUS Justice, but unlike an Appellate Judge, a candidate’s writings are protected by attorney-client privilege. John Roberts was successfully confirmed without opening up his writings in the Solicitor General’s office to Senate scrutiny. This was the pretense used by the Dems to block Estrada the first time. But the SCOTUS is not the DC Circuit, and they would not be able to credibly filibuster Estrada based on a premise that wasn't applied to an evil white man who just got confirmed as Chief Justice.

I say we make the left go on record as the racists that they are and force them to resort to attacking a minority candidate with a flawless resume, well qualified by the ABA, and solid conservative credentials.

Did I mention that Miguel Estrada is 44 years old?

BRING IT ON!

Now That's Funny Right There

2005-10-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hat tip Breslin

California Proposition 77

2005-10-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

This is one of Governor Schwarzenegger’s “big four” propositions that he is using to bypass the hopelessly liberal and entrenched legislature. In fact, this is the one designed to disinter some of the more radical State Senators and Assemblymen from their gerrymandered districts.

I have to admit that I am not really fond of the idea that retired judges be given the authority to set political district boundaries, but when you have a successful recall election to bounce the current governor followed by a statewide election that fails to unseat a single incumbent in the legislature, you have a problem. I don’t begrudge Democrats from being elected to the legislature, but the way these districts are laid out in this state, hard core gay rights activists, international ANSWER types, and various other far leftist moonbats have actually been elected in Northern California. In fact, despite the overwhelming passage of a ban on gay marriage only five years ago, the California Legislature passed a bill authorizing it which the Governor subsequently vetoed. These people do not care what the people of California want; they are wholly owned subsidiaries of various victim-identity groups and labor unions. I can’t see any other way to pry these psychos out of office at this point as distasteful as it is to give judges this kind of authority.

The last poll conducted on October 15-17 had the measure passing 54-41 with 5% undecided. Froggy urges Californians to vote YES ON PROP 77, so that we can get rid of some of the dead wood in Sacramento and get this State back on its feet.

PBS FRONTLINE ON TORTURE

2005-10-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching the Frontline report on “The Torture Question” and there really wasn’t much of a question about how the libs over at PBS feel about the issue. They were seemingly able to directly connect SecDef Rumsfeld to General Ricardo Sanchez to General Janet Karpinski to some Colonel named Pappas, to the military interrogators themselves such that Rummy’s pressure to produce results in these interrogations and his tacit ascent to “torture” techniques was transmitted down the Chain of Command resulting in the Abu Ghraib situation. Of course the connection was made largely by hearsay from Janice Karpinski and three former interrogators which leaves out quite a few steps in the grand conspiracy postulation. Notably, Janet Karpinski was demoted and subsequently retired for having been the Commander of Abu Ghraib at the time of the scandal. She was strident in her accusations during her portions of the interview, and in my opinion she was basically engaging in a legacy remodeling project.

The interviews of the military interrogators themselves were much more interesting, however. Specialist Tony Lagouranis was especially frank in his description of what kinds of things were going on at Abu Ghraib. One of the more sensational charges Lagoranis leveled was that

“Or some people, the Navy SEALs, for instance, were using just ice water to lower the body temperature of the prisoner. They would take his rectal temperature to make sure he didn't die; they would keep him hovering on hypothermia. That was a pretty common technique.”

My question upon hearing this was, “What SEAL Platoon were you operating with in Iraq?” That’s a pretty specific charge to make on national television, effectively tarnishing the entire SEAL community with deliberate and premeditated inducement of hypothermia on detainees. Did the SEALs conduct hypothermia training seminars at Abu Ghraib? How in the hell does some peon Army E-4 find out about what would clearly be the secret operational techniques of SOF operators from an entirely different service?

“In Mosul, again, I remember the chief warrant officer in charge of the interrogation facility. He'd heard about how the SEALs had set up a "discotheque" with loud music and strobe lights in order to disorient the prisoner, and he heard about the ice water. We didn't use the ice water; he felt that was too dangerous, somebody might die.”

Oh, OK. The CWO “heard about it”. Of course he didn’t “hear” about it from any SEALs because it is unlikely that some Army CWO from Abu Ghraib had some buddies in a SEAL Platoon in Mosul that liked to swap interrogation technique stories. Who knows how many awestruck Army guys were between the “SEAL disco” and Abu Ghraib turning some exciting Frogman exploits into the script of a Hollywood movie.

Conspicuously absent from the Frontline report was any mention of Manadel al Jamadi who was the detainee that died in custody at Abu Ghraib after being captured by members of SEAL Team SEVEN. Jamadi’s death prompted the courts martial of a SEAL officer who was subsequently acquitted of any involvement in the man’s death. That didn’t stop Lagouranis from buddy f*cking his own by saying,

“Well, I never saw too much with the interrogators who were actually professional interrogators that they were doing much more than what I described to you: the dogs, the stress positions, the hypothermia. Which ended up not really causing severe bodily harm, anyway, to the prisoner. The worst stuff I saw was from the detaining units who would torture people in their homes. They were using things like … burns. They would smash people's feet with the back of an axe-head. They would break bones, ribs, you know. That was serious stuff.”

This guy is a world class blue falcon. After inoculating himself and his “professional” colleagues sitting inside the wire at Abu Ghraib waiting for people to interrogate, he drops completely unsupported charges on the soldiers out in the field risking their lives to snatch these people from very dangerous neighborhoods. But he’s not done.

“And I saw that over and over again. And some of the worst cases that I saw of abuse coming out of the Force Recon Marines in North Babel -- I was writing reports about this, abuse reports and sending it up through the Marine chain of command. And I know that nobody ever investigated these things because I had taken pictures of the wounds. I had organized the medical reports that the Corpsmen had put down, and taken sworn statements from the prisoners.”

So now Super Specialist Lagouranis is taking sworn statements from Corpsmen and detainees captured by Force Recon Marines? Who is this guy, Matlock?

Let me lay this out for those of you who may not be familiar with these kinds of folks. Lagouranis said he joined the Army to learn Arabic and that they decided to make him an interrogator first, then send him to DLI in Monterey for language training. In order to get an assignment like that, a soldier has to be a very intelligent person who was able to score high marks on his ASVAB and subsequent language examinations. It is no secret that not everybody in the Army is a rocket scientist, and this situation makes life somewhat difficult for those people who start to get the feeling that they are smarter than everybody they work with. The Army doesn’t promote or reward you for being the smartest guy in the unit, it promotes and rewards people who demonstrate that they are good soldiers and cheerfully do there jobs with a minimum of complaining. Conforming to this system is often a frustrating experience for people like Lagouranis, and it was clear to me in his interview that he was getting some payback. Payback for the Army that never promoted him past E-4 despite the fact that he was a very intelligent Arabic linguist and all around brilliant individual. Payback for seeing SEALs, Force Recon Marines, and fellow soldiers receiving respect and admiration from his peers for being a bunch of knuckle draggers while he was derided for being a whiner and complainer.

Do I have a single shred of evidence to substantiate these charges aside from my personal experiences and interactions with fellow servicemembers over a 15 year military career? Not really. But I doubt he has any evidence to support the slanderous charges that he leveled against dozens of operators on a nationally televised documentary. He stated at one point that he “made the CWO sign off” on every interrogation technique that he used at Abu Ghraib. I’d like to see that paperwork for starters, or how about some of the pictures from the Force Recon abuse collection, but I’m not holding my breath.

UPDATE: Specialist Lagouranis is in the comment thread trying to peddle his story in the Frogosphere. His statements thus far have only served to confirm my assessment of his character above and to bring further discredit upon himself and his baseless accusations. If you have something to say to Tony, by all means, speak up.

Froggy OUT

How to Know What Ballot Initiative to Vote For in California

2005-10-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

When I first started voting in California, it was very difficult for me to determine which side of a proposition I should vote for. I remember being told by a friend in my youth to, “Vote NO on everything and things won’t get worse.” That might work for a 18 year old college student, but it’s not a viable voting strategy especially when important issues are at hand. California is having a special election coming up on November 8th.

One of the real hot topics on the ballot this time around is Proposition 73 which is essentially an Amendment to the California Constitution that if passed would mandate parental notification by a physician performing an abortion on a minor 48 hours prior to the procedure. Governor Schwarzenegger has come out in support of this initiative saying that he would “kill” someone if they took his daughter to get an abortion without informing him. That sentiment pretty much sums up my reaction to the idea that my daughter would have a surgical procedure performed on her without my knowledge. I mean, how can it be that a student could be suspended or expelled from high school for bringing aspirin to school, but that same student is allowed to placed under anesthesia and have surgery without supervision?

The slogan for the Anti-73 movement is, "If she can't come to me, I just want to keep her safe."

Huh?

How about, "If she can't come to me, I'm a piece of crap parent that raised a future porn star."

Or perhaps, "If she can't come to me, then she might as well have some lefty abortionist jam his slimy hands up into my daughter while I remain blissfully ignorant of my personal failures as a parent and a human being."

Pretty catchy, huh?

But the best way to figure out whether or not to support an initiative is to look at who is against it. Here are some of the opponents of Prop 73:

American Civil Liberties Union, California Affiliates
California Democratic Party
California Federation of Teachers
California National Organization for Women
Feminist Women Health Clinic
Feminist Majority Foundation
League of Women Voters of California
NARAL Pro-Choice California
National Abortion Federation
People for the American Way, California
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Sierra Club
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, California
Cal Berkeley Democrats
Code Pink, San Francisco Bay Area
Food Not Bombs, Comida No Bombas, Los Angeles
Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services, Los Angeles County/Oakland
Green Party of Monterey
Khmer Girls in Action, Long Beach
Multi-Cultural Feminist Group of California State University, Monterey Bay
National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco/Bay Area
National Organization for Women
People’s Democratic Party of Santa Cruz County
Planned Parenthood
Sacramento Moveon.org
San Diego LGBT Community Chapter
SEIU Local 415
Sex Workers Outreach Project USA
US Senator Barbara Boxer
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

This list represents maybe 10% of the entire list, but you get the idea. When this conglomeration of psychopaths coalesce against an issue, it’s a safe bet that you should vote for it.

UPDATE: 60% of Likely Voters currently support Prop 73

Chachi Follow Up

2005-10-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Chachi emailed me yesterday…

I just got off the phone with Jon. He's cool, but I really got a sense for how pissed you are. I'm sorry.

My support for the troops is clear. That isn't up for debate.

On the charges of insensitivity to the real letters that soldiers send home - I plead guilty. If you're angry at me, be angry for infrequent humor-deafness, because you know that in my little sliver of the blogosphere, my support for the military is immovable.

My "thanks" for the traffic was a sincere one, but also a tongue-in-cheek "farwell" that I expected you to take as a joke because you know how safe skydiving is. I underestimated how serious people would take what I thought would be an obvious joke and the length that anyone would ever go to find out.

I intended to follow up the offending post (which I've taken down) with the actual post of my great experience, but considering this, I may not get the chance. My intention was to only leave it up until I finished the follow-up, but the video is harder for me to get online than I thought.

Imagine my surprise when I read everything today that I've read. I thought you'd be the first to sniff it out as a joke, considering some of my stuff you've read/linked. I'm sorry that for a time you felt "responsible", Jon mentioned you were upset. Matt, you guys can't be emulated. Imitation was never my intention. My intention was to enjoy my birthday gift from my girlfriend, tell a joke and then tell the real story. I don't blame you for the personal attacks on me, my job or my stupid picture. I'm sorry that the nature of my lapse in judgement offended you and I thank you for pointing out how inappropriate it was, considering the gravity of soldiers who send home similar letters. I don't have experience with that. I didn't mean to be so unimaginative to not consider it. I'm asking for your forgiveness.

Best,

Chachi

Frankly, I could care less why somebody would decide to do something like this, but there is a lesson to be learned. Hugh, has posted before about how blogs are susceptible to being used dishonestly to disseminate false or misleading material (See Kos, Atrios, et al). He used the example of the Belmont Club who, at the time, was written by someone in the PI that was unidentified (Wretchard has since come out of the shadows for the Pajama Media project). Wretchard’s analysis and intel on GWOT issues is disturbingly accurate, and his credibility is therefore beyond reproach. But an anonymous Wretchard could have used that credibility to put out bogus stories to satisfy some unknown ulterior motive. Clearly Chachi has never even approached that level of influence or popularity in the blogosphere nor was he destined to, but the ethics of blogging apply to the great and to the small.

One of the other great things about the blogosphere as opposed to the MSM, is that it is a self-healing organism…at least on the right. When a cancer starts to grow somewhere on the body, somebody steps in to cut it out. This time it happened to be me doing the cutting, but it is incumbent upon all responsible bloggers to police ourselves so that we can continue to grow the credibility gap between us and the MSM. And don’t forget anti-free speech politicians like McCain; if we allow the blogosphere to devolve into teeming morass of lies, rumors, and stupid hoaxes we will call down the thunder on ourselves.

The Legend of Chachi the Asshat

2005-10-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

Going through my comments this morning I noticed one from a reader named Morgan Farmer saying,

“Check out the Spanktuary. Chachi was killed in a skydiving accident. There is a final post from a note he left. I am heartbroken. His voice was truly unique for someone his age.”

I hadn’t been reading Chachi much lately, except when he would link me or send me an email about one of his posts. So I clicked on over to see what had happened.

Sure enough, there was a letter posted by “a friend of Chachi's who found a note among his things.” The letter reminded me of something that might have been written by a soldier while at war in order to convey his feelings to those he loved in the event of his death.

“If you're reading this, my journey from cradle to casket was more winding than it was long. I think everyone secretly knew this was going to be the case. It's OK, I packed a lot into 29 years. Caution only seemed to play itself out as the alternative to the choice I usually made. I didn't know how to do things differently. Did you really expect that someday I'd be lying on a bed dying of nothing? Neither did I.”

He seems to indicate that he was somehow different from all of those other mortgage brokers in Minneapolis; he was a risk taker and an inspirational figure.

“Will my memory be a permanent fixture in your mind or will grocery and to-do lists habitually evict me from your recall? Did I inspire anyone, anywhere, to do anything they wouldn't have otherwise done? Is it OK that I told myself that I did? I'm in a place that knows no pain or suffering. I just hope I don't get kicked out for doing wheelies up and down the streets of gold. Please join me, but not until much, much later.”

Chachi is a punk. He is a wannabe and a loser. He has been unable to contribute anything meaningful to the blogosphere, and unwilling to put himself in a position to contribute anything to the War on Terror although he claims 9/11 was his inspiration for blogging and a life changing experience.

I am no Sky god, but Froggy has probably a 100 or so freefall jumps the majority of them military. When I was a new guy at SEAL Team FOUR, we were told by the Command Master Chief that if we went ahead and got our civilian USPA B Licence on our own we could transition to military freefall without waiting years to get a slot at the US Army Military Freefall School. So a few of us saved up and went through Accelerated Freefall (AFF) in Chesapeake, VA. One of the first things I learned at AFF was about a little piece of equipment called the Cypres. The Cypres is an automatic actuation device for reserve parachutes used by civilian skydivers. This device has been the gold standard in safety for almost 20 years, and there is not a student rig in the United States that does not have a Cypres on it, period. Skydiving centers could not obtain liability insurance from the USPA without equipping all student parachutes with a calibrated and documented Cypres.

So what? Well Froggy conducted his own investigation regarding the untimely demise of Chachi this morning, and it took me all of 5 minutes. First, I called the USPA and talked with their national safety and training director to ask if there had been any reports of fatal skydiving accidents in either Minnesota or Wisconsin in the past month. Answer: No. Any students die at all this month? Answer: No. Next, I followed the link left by Chachi on his “farewell” post to the AFF instruction facility he was planning to go to.

Let me digress for a moment. In this post from October 7th, Chachi invoked me by name thanking me for sending his blog traffic. When I first read that comment on my site and saw his reference to me in his last post, I thought for a moment that perhaps he wanted to skydive in order to emulate me in some small way. This made me feel somehow responsible for his “death”, now I just feel like bitchslapping the fool.

I called SKYDIVE TWIN CITIES and spoke to the owner, John. I gave John the background on Chachi’s site, his postings regarding AFF, and my conversation with the USPA. I gave him the Spanktuary’s url and John immediately recognized Chachi from his wannabe cool guy picture, and told me that he not only remembered him, but he had actually filmed his jump last weekend! Unfortunately, John sold all the film and video to Chachi so I couldn’t get an actual photo of him having survived his jump, but I’ll take John’s word for it.

So there you have it. The legend of Chachi the asshat. Many people would say that they feel sorry for somebody so pathetic that they went to such lengths to gain attention for themselves. I am not one of those people. Chachi is not special, he is not a victim of his own self esteem issues, he is a jackass and a punk. If you take the time to read his last two posts, I think that you will agree that he is a dork and a loser even if he had burned in. It’s just that nobody would have mentioned it so as not to offend his family. The thing about this that bothers me besides the unseemly and feeble attempt to deceive, is the set up letter and the farewell letter that he wrote. As I mentioned, these posts were strikingly similar to letters I have seen written by American soldiers facing the real possibility of death in combat for their country. That Chachi used this kind of device to perpetrate his fraud demonstrates a profound lack of character and disrespect for those of us who have put our lives on the line for our country. Five years ago a stunt like this would have little prescience, but after these long years of combat, I am disgusted that some faggot mortgage broker from Minnesota has the temerity to mock the real dangers faced by our troops with an infantile exercise such as this.

One more thing. If I were John at SKYDIVE TWIN CITIES, I would consider taking some kind of action against Chachi. I mean, he basically erroneously inferred that John and his staff at STC allowed a student jumper to die. Additionally, if Chachi does apply for a USPA License at some point, I would hope that he will be turned away. Skydiving is an exciting and fun pastime, but it is a very serious business as well. The practitioners of the sport spend countless hours documenting all of the safety measures that they have to undergo to remain in compliance with USPA regulations. This is equally true of military parachute riggers whose diligent work to maintain safe parachutes is chronically under appreciated. Not just anybody is allowed to pack a reserve parachute. You have to be certified by the USPA as a rigger, and you have to tag that reserve and repack it at regular intervals so that it can be inspected. When a reserve doesn’t open and somebody burns in, that rigger who packed it, and the jumpmaster who checked the Cypres are on the hook for that. These accidents are investigated exactly like a plane crash and the cause of each accident is determined in order to prevent future occurrences. The Skydiving community doesn’t need immature little $hitheads that think faking fatal parachute accidents is funny.

By the way, I have .pdfs of both posts, so if Chachi takes his site down or erases those posts, I will have them up here.

Let My Mentors Do My Talking For Me

2005-10-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

I am growing weary of the “Harriet Miers Situation TM” so I’ll direct you to my two favorite columnists for impressions. First, the incomparable and smokin’ hot, Ann Coulter:

“The only sexism involved in the Miers nomination is the administration's claim that once they decided they wanted a woman, Miers was the best they could do. Let me just say, if the top male lawyer in the country is John Roberts and the top female lawyer is Harriet Miers, we may as well stop allowing girls to go to law school.”

Or if you like:

“The average LSAT score at SMU Law School is 155. The average LSAT at Harvard is 170. That's a difference of approximately 1 1/2 standard deviations, a differential IQ experts routinely refer to as "big-ass" or "humongous." Whatever else you think of them, the average Harvard Law School student is very smart. I gather I have just committed a hate crime by saying so.”

Ann’s compassionate side:

“I genuinely feel sorry for Miers. I'm sure she's a lovely woman, brighter than average, and well-qualified for many important jobs. Just not the job Bush has nominated her for. The terrible thing Bush has done to Miers is to force people who care about the court to say that.”

That pretty much sums up my thoughts on her qualifications for SCOTUS as far as I am able to determine. I would like you to notice Ann’s unflinching ability to cut straight to the heart of a concept, and then to rip out that heart with her bare hands, take a generous bite out of it while it’s still beating, spit that bite out into the face of the most squeamish lefty nearby, then push that lefty to the ground and scream, “What the f*ck are you looking at, b*tch?!” I can only hope to attain such a level of beatific harmony with my own writing.

My other hero of the opinion page is none other than the godfather of snark, Mark Steyn. The clarity and richness of his prose is only matched by the breadth and abundance of his content.

“Harriet who? Well, she served as his "staff secretary," or, as her biography says, "the ultimate gatekeeper for what crosses the desk of the nation's commander in chief." Legally speaking, that makes her sound more Della Street than Perry Mason. But don't worry, she is, in fact, a lawyer. Indeed, for some years, back in Texas, she was Mr. Bush's personal lawyer. But she's not a judge, not a constitutional lawyer, or a legal scholar, or someone with any judicial philosophy or who has shown an interest in acquiring one. She is a pal of the president…
But Mr. Bush, for good or ill, believes in himself as the real Third Way deal: it's a remarkable achievement to get damned day in day out as the new Adolf Hitler when 90 percent of the time you're Tony Blair with a ranch. The president is a religio-cultural conservative who believes in big government and big spending and paternalistic federal intervention in areas where few conservatives have ever previously thought it wise. Not my bag, but, that said, every time I or anybody else have predicted he has blown it he has managed to eke out another victory.”

Secret SCOTUS Strategery

2005-10-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

After much contemplation and reflection, I think that I may have discovered the very devious agenda of President Bush that caused him to pick Harriet Miers for the Court. The political calculation and strategic planning that I now believe the President has demonstrated in this case is nothing short of remarkable. Surely Karl Rove’s evil hand is buried deep into this decision and if it all plays out the way they intend, conservatives and Republican Presidential candidates in 2008 will be deeply in their debt.

As I have stated before, the key to beating Hillary in 2008 is the Republican’s ability to nominate a national figure renowned for their leadership on a large stage with name recognition that can compete with a Clinton. This is a very tall order, and potential candidates like Senators George Allen and Bill Frist, or Governor Owens of Colorado would likely be fine Presidents and would readily be nominated by the conservative base, but they do not have the name recognition to go head to head with Hillary. Meanwhile, Republicans that do have that kind of mojo like Rudy Giuliani, Senator McCain, or even Condi Rice are under suspicion for their social conservative creds (and for good reason). These nationally popular Republicans can only be nominated in an environment where the SCOTUS is firmly leaning to the right. That means a solid 5-4 majority. Assuming that Miers is confirmed and is as conservative as the President says she is; she would ostensibly be joined by Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas in a quartet of reliable conservatives. This would put Anthony Kennedy in the “swing” vote and Ginsberg, Breyer, Souter, and Stevens on the left. In order to dial in that 5-4 majority, we need at least one of the 5 to retire or die.

Waiting for Justices to die is an unfulfilling and ultimately untenable strategy. So how does Bush convince one of the lefties to take a cruise and not come back? He sends the signal that he is weak, cannot trust the Senate, and is forced to nominate Souterettes or marginal conservatives to replace them. John Paul Stevens is into his eighties now, and Ginsberg looks like a stiff wind might put her on her a$$. Bush is clearly targeting Stevens for retirement, and this limp wristed nomination of Miers is a invitation to him saying, in effect, "you don’t have to carry the load anymore buddy, just step aside and I’ll put Alberto Gonzalez up there so you won’t feel like you betrayed the DNC." If Bush and Rove are really lucky, Stevens will talk Ginsberg into walking off into the sunset with him. It is statistically impossible to lose the Senate majority during the remainder of Bush’s term, so if he can pick off one more liberal he’ll be able to go back to the deep conservative bench and pluck out another Roberts and go out a hero.

Screw the Senate

2005-10-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of squawking from Hugh, Powerline, Cap’n Ed, and others on the right side of the blogosphere about how Harriet Miers should just be confirmed anyway because if not, it will damage the Republican majority now in place. They seem to be willing to admit that while she isn’t a Scalia/Thomas/Roberts level nominee, she’s good enough for government work and therefore should be confirmed. I’m not buying it.

First of all, she’s 60 years old and she looks every day of it. My Dad is 74 and he looks 10 times better than she does (thanks for those genes, Dad), meaning that she has probably 10 fewer years to strike down stupid liberal ideas than any of the well known crop of pipe hitting conservatives that have already made it to the federal bench. Jeff Goldstein has documented some disturbing tendencies with regard to affirmative action…

This gets precisely to the point, and it echoes an observation that I made recently, namely, that “the Miers nomination[...] appears to be an instance of George Bush finding an evangelical who will be tough on porn and abortion (which social cons will find appealing), but [who] will prove to be “moderate”—or at least deferential—on affirmative action and other proportional-based moves toward social-engineering [the Dallas firefighter example, which suggests, too, she would likely support Title IX].” That is, she appears to be a person whose loyalty to Bush extends to his political philosophy, which, on the domestic front, at least, is far less conservative than Howard Dean or the MoveOn folks would have you believe.

And I think Jeff captures nicely some of the gut level sentiment that many conservatives are experiencing…

People see Miers get the Supreme Court slot and it reminds them of when they played Little League baseball and didn’t get to pitch because the coach’s son got the slot even though he wasn’t as good.

Frankly I could care less about the “majority” we currently “have” in the Senate. I really don’t see anything that is very likely to upset it for what that’s worth. Having a 55-45 majority in the Senate looks good on paper, but in practical application, it doesn’t really do much for the party or the country. They basically take something accomplished in the House and add 25% in unneeded spending to it for the President to sign. Besides, the Dems have all kinds of really questionable seats up for grabs in ’06 and the odds of them flipping the majority under any circumstances is very slim.

The real issue is 2008. If the President was willing and able to pack the SCOTUS with rock ribbed, young, and reliable Justices, then we cannot lose in 2008. If the Court “issue” was moot for the right, then very popular Republicans could sail through the nomination process and kick the snot out of Hillary. Giuliani NEEDS a packed Court to win. Without it, his wobbly abortion/gay/social agenda will draw effective fire from the Christian conservatives. With it, they can hold their noses and stomp Hillary into the ground in the general election. It’s a simple as that. Putting questionable Justices on the Court really confuses the matter and could lead to a split in the Party.

Miers is questionable, old, and a crony. Let’s kick the old bag to the curb and get one of the young bucks in there.

Hey CIA, Here’s Your Chance

2005-10-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Porter Goss doesn’t have a hair on his a$$ if he doesn’t have one of his clandestine service officers at least try to get this job. Although I doubt any of the Ivy League ninnies over at CIA have the stones or the ability to get hired as a video production assistant for AQ, it would be nice if we could find somebody to do it. Alas we need to wait 5 more years (or is it 4 ½?) until the Clandestine Service is capable of handling the threats that we are facing today. So why not go for it, Porter? h/t New Editor via Michelle Malkin

Oh Hell No

2005-10-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

“My benevolence is upset and so is my pride, that’s why I took my b*tch for a ride…”, the poetry of one Anfernee Jefferson from the movie High School High starring John Lovitz. Suffice it to say that Mr. Jefferson would not be counted amongst the greats, but that excerpt sums up nicely the attitude of a bipartisan group of bedwetting Senators working to codify techniques and procedures available to military interrogators to use against captured enemy combatants. In a 90-10 vote, Senators passed this amendment in an ill advised and hubristic attempt to tell the President that anything more than pattycake with hardcore terrorists is somehow beneath the United States and should be outlawed.

The amendment was sponsored by Senator McCain, who is perhaps the only person in the Senate with a history of being the object of actual torture in a real POW camp in North Vietnam. While Senator McCain most certainly has every right to extrapolate his experiences and attempt to apply them to his job as a legislator, he is forgetting a crucial difference between his POW experience and that of detainees in the GWOT. McCain was a legal combatant and Vietnam was a signatory of the Geneva Convention making the retributive acts perpetrated upon him objectively illegal and demonstrably in conflict with a signed treaty. AQ terrorists are not legal combatants under any conceivable definition, and AQ is not a party to the Geneva Conventions. The organization’s stated goals and tactics are in direct opposition to the spirit and letter of the Geneva Convention and therefore its members are entitled to treatment commensurate with their own actions.

During Special Report with Brit Hume, Mort Kondrake noted “waterboarding” as a tactic that should be disallowed and would be ostensibly made off limits if the Senate got its way. Waterboarding or Chinese water torture (which is what we called it for some reason) consists of taking a piece of cloth material that can be breathed through and holding it across the subject’s face while pouring water from a canteen, hose, etc. over the target’s mouth and nose. The water doesn’t really go down the target’s throat so much as it changes the characteristics of the cloth such that it is no longer able to allow air to pass through. It is this change in conditions that produces the extreme anxiety in the target. One moment they can breathe through the cloth and they feel somewhat relieved although they are subject to the control of some angry looking SEALs. The next moment, when the water makes the cloth impermeable, that relief is rapidly destroyed and the target feels completely helpless, terrified, and VERY willing to talk. This sh*t works, and it only takes one canteen to get the job done. It is completely safe physiologically, but it produces immediate and positive results.

One of my platoons conducted a Maritime Interdiction Operation (MIO) in which we stealthily boarded a target vessel and quickly moved to and secured the bridge. We were looking for a terrorist hiding somewhere aboard, and my platoon commander asked the captain where he might be found. The captain, feeling his oats apparently, demurred and brusquely refused to divulge this information. In response, my platoon commander socked him in the face, and with the assistance of other guys held him down, pulled his t-shirt over his face and poured maybe a half a canteen of water over his mouth. After making noises reminiscent of a nubile young co-ed laying eyes on Jason Vorhees for the first time, he couldn’t tell us fast enough where this idiot was hiding. By the way, this was a training operation and the captain was a US Naval officer aboard his own vessel. This was many, many moons ago and the statute of limitations (if there is a UCMJ violation here) has run, and besides, this captain didn’t tell anyone about it. In fact, after the op was called, we debriefed him and he praised us for our effectiveness and skill!

The lesson being that if you need to know something RIGHT NOW, there are ways to do it without ripping off fingernails or taking a ball peen hammer to somebody’s nut sac. When detainees are dying or being severely injured in US custody it should be vigorously investigated, but that is a very small minority of cases. US forces should be authorized and encouraged to take captured terrorists WAY out of their comfort zones when necessary. In fact, these kinds of techniques should be formally taught to SOF and Infantry units conducting Direct Action. What that captain came to understand was that by the time we were aboard his vessel, he and his crew did not have a chance to stop us. He persisted in his intransigence thinking incorrectly that we were not willing to do what it took to get the information that he had. Our actions merely confirmed to him that not only were we viciously professional, but we were mercilessly serious about the mission we were sent to accomplish.

The importance of this perception amongst our enemies cannot be understated. It is this perception and not the verbal games played by professional interrogators (of which I am one) that ultimately break the will of a captured enemy combatant which results in timely and accurate intel. In my opinion, the Bill of Rights does not apply outside the United States in general nor should it apply to those deemed illegal combatants specifically no matter what their geographic location is.

The Senate would be advised to not meddle in the President’s prerogatives as the Commander in Chief in the GWOT not only to prevent the usurpation of powers specifically enumerated to the Executive Branch, but also because the President is the only person with the balls to wage it. Producing an “off limits” techniques list for internet publication seems to be an obvious error, but as usual, the Senate is “stuck on stupid”. Those profound words from Anfernee Jefferson demonstrate a body full of itself, high on its own PR appropriate morality trying to score some points with liberal elites against the President by kicking him when he is down. But as his speech today brought into sharp relief, this President gets it and knows how to take the fight to the enemy. I don't appreciate 90 blowhard Senators trying to take ME for a ride and make a b*tch out of our war effort against a bunch of evil murders just so they can pretend to be benevolent with power they don't have.

She Made Coffee and Brought Donuts…

2005-10-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

I just heard Hugh Hewitt making the case for Harriet Miers to James Dobson of Focus on the Family by saying, “She was on the mission board at her church for 10 years. She made coffee and brought donuts…” Which is fantastic. I appreciate people at church that are servants and who are involved in the ministry in a critical area like missions. Later on in life when I have more time to devote to it, I would really like to be on my church’s mission board. But that don’t mean I should be on the Supreme Court.

Now, I understand that Hugh is not actually arguing that her church service qualifies her to serve on the Supreme Court, but when you actually have to use information like that to substantiate her nomination, then that probably isn't good. Additionally, she is 60 years old, and forgive me for saying so, but not a sprightly looking 60 at that. If I was in charge of nominating SCOTUS Justices, I wouldn’t even talk about people over 50, and if I could get away with a 30 something with impeccable credentials, then I’d take a crack at it.

There is no doubt that this pick, no matter what kind of Justice she would turn out to be, signals the acknowledgement of the President’s APPARENT weakness politically. He may SEEM weak now, but the numbers haven’t changed since last November and they aren't scheduled to until a year from now. The President seems to be saying with this pick that no conservative with any kind of paper trail has a chance at confirmation. If that is true, let’s find out now and save the stealth nominee in the on deck circle if a real conservative is successfully Borked.

In my opinion, this is the President’s way of saying that its naptime. He tried to get the Social Security package through and failed, he's taken a beating on Iraq and Katrina, and now he seems to have lost his stomach for a fight. He may have accepted his lame duck status early, and with the Hammer out of the picture, he doesn’t have a good pitch for the count so he’s going to ride the pine for the rest of the game. I hope I’m wrong, but this funk surrounding the White House has been thickening for a few months now, and I am not confident that it will lift.

Here’s the big question. Do the Democrats smell blood in the water and bork her anyway (with the cooperation of Senate conservatives) and put the President on the run? Or do they count their blessings, confirm her, and step up the lame duck rhetoric and use Republican frustration against the White House to stymie further legislative priorities? Because Republicans often eat their own over principled disagreements, Dems can capitalize on this and we lose our tax cuts and get to choke on more Katrina/Entitlement/Welfare spending.

Like Patrick Swayze (Bohdi) said in the movie Point Break, “It’s basic dog psychology, you get them peeing down their legs and then you can take what you want.” Or something like that. As it turns out, the junior SCOTUS Justice (Breyer for over a decade now) is tasked with bringing coffee and donuts to the rest of the crew. So apparently I'm mistaken, she's phreakin' perfect for the job.

Heh.

Katrina/Rita After Action Report

2005-09-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

Left in the comments by a member of the Frogosphere…

Always do an AAR. Here's the AAR for Katrina/Rita. Is it funny because it’s true, or funny because its obvious? 2 States, 22 Observations

1. Texas: Productive, industrious state run by Republicans.Louisiana: Government dependent, welfare state run by Democrats.

2. Texas: Residents take responsibility to protect and evacuate themselves.Louisiana: Residents wait for government to protect and evacuate them.

3. Texas: Local and state officials take responsibility for protecting their citizens and property.Louisiana: Local and state officials blame federal government for not protecting their citizens and property.

4. Texas: Command and control remains in place to preserve order.Louisiana: Command and control collapses allowing lawlessness.

5. Texas: Law enforcement officers remain on duty to protect city.Louisiana: Law enforcement officers desert their posts to protect themselves.

6. Texas: Local police watch for looting.Louisiana: Local police participate in looting.

7. Texas: Law and order remains in control, 8 looters tried it, 8 looters arrested.Louisiana: Anarchy and lawlessness breaks out, looters take over city, no arrests, criminals with guns have to be shot by federal troops.

8. Texas: Considerable damage caused by hurricane.Louisiana: Considerable damage caused by looters.

9. Texas: Flood barriers hold preventing cities from flooding.Louisiana: Flood barriers fail due to lack of maintenance allowing city to flood.

10. Texas: Orderly evacuation away from threatened areas, few remain.Louisiana: 25,000 fail to evacuate, are relocated to another flooded area.

11. Texas: Citizens evacuate with personal 3-day supply of food and water.Louisiana: Citizens fail to evacuate with 3-day supply of food and water, do without it for the next 4 days.

12. Texas: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials provide accessible distribution points.Louisiana: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials prevent citizens from reaching distribution points and vice versa.

13. Louisiana: Media focuses on poor blacks in need of assistance, blamesBush.Texas: Media can't find poor blacks in need of assistance, looking for something else to blame on Bush.

14. Texas: Coastal cities suffer some infrastructure damage, Mayors tell residents to stay away until ready for repopulation, no interference from federal officials. Louisiana: New Orleans is destroyed, Mayor asks residents to return home as another hurricane approaches, has to be overruled by federal officials.

15. Louisiana: Over 400 killed by storm, flooding and crime.Texas: 24 killed in bus accident on highway during evacuation, no storm related deaths.

16. Texas: Jailed prisoners are relocated to other detention facilities outside the storm area.Louisiana: Jailed prisoners are set free to prey on city shops, residents, and homes.

17. Texas: Local and state officials work with FEMA and Red Cross in recovery operations.Louisiana: Local and state officials obstruct FEMA and Red Cross from aiding in recovery operations.

18. Texas: Local and state officials demonstrate leadership in managing disaster areas.Louisiana: Local and state officials fail to demonstrate leadership, require federal government to manage disaster areas.

19. Texas: Fuel deliveries can't keep up with demand, some run out of gas on highway; need help from fuel tankers before storm arrives.Louisiana: Motorists wait till storm hits and electrical power fails. Cars run out of gas at gas stations that can't pump gas. Gas in underground tanks mixes with flood waters.

20. Texas: Mayors move citizens out of danger.Louisiana: Mayor moves himself and family to Dallas.

21. Texas: Mayors continue public service announcements and updates on television with Governor's backing and support.Louisiana: Mayor cusses, governor cries, senator threatens president with violence on television, none of them have a clue what went wrong or who's responsible.

22. Louisiana: Democratic Senator says FEMA was slow in responding to 911 calls from Louisiana citizens.Texas: Republican Senator says "when you call 911, the phone doesn't ring in Washington, it rings here at the local responders".

What if state and local elected officials were forced to depend on themselves and their own resources instead of calling for help from the federal government? Texas cities would be back up and running in a few days. Louisiana cities would still be under water next month.Republicans call for action, Democrats call for help. What party will yoube voting for in the next election?

Awash in Liberal Racism and Exaggeration

2005-09-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

Katrina didn’t just wash away hundreds of homes and businesses; it washed away the cheesy veneer of multiculturalism that the Left has been using to cover its own racist tendencies. The MSM aided by various victim-identity groups continue to peddle the meme that Bushitler McHalliburton intentionally withheld life saving disaster relief from the Gulf region in order to punish intransigent blacks that refused to vote GOP last time. Furthermore, they ostensibly contend that the more robust federal response to Rita is to help white Texan rednecks and rub poor black New Orleanian’s noses in it. The stories of horrific conditions of filth, murder, rape and mayhem emanating from the Superdome and the Convention Center and dutifully reported without batting an eye by MSM anchors now seems to have revealed the real racists.

Shep Smith, Anderson Cooper, Geraldo et al not to mention the Kossacks, DU, and every other vermin of the lefty web all gleefully reported the completely false stories of gangrapes, throat slitting of children, bodies stacked like cordwood, and any other tale of grisly, inhuman activities. Why? Because they really think that the poor blacks of New Orleans and elsewhere are savages, capable of unspeakable acts of gore and only one missed welfare check away from total devolution to an underclass of genocidal maniacs. As it turns out, only a handful of people died in the Superdome by natural causes, and the murder rate in New Orleans (which is admittedly too high) remained essentially flat during the week of Katrina. Stories of blacks reverting to their cannibal instincts were lapped up without even the most cursory fact checking because racist liberals already thought that blacks were intellectually and morally equivalent to the savages that inhabit their African homeland. They proved the anecdote that if you keep saying something that is untrue enough times, people will start to believe it. FEMA started believing it and ordered 25,000 body bags when maybe a thousand will be needed.

Somebody sent me the story of Tom “Gator” Seefeldt who was supposedly a former Navy SEAL from Mississippi who single handedly saved his entire town, fished 800 dead bodies out of the water and stacked them on I-90. The “Gator” is a phony SEAL and a liar, but when confronted with that fact, The Moberly Monitor who originally published this BS story refuses to retract it, but took it down from their website. Via Drudge comes the story of psychopathic dolphins loosed in the Gulf of Mexico on the prowl for surfers and swimmers. While attack dolphins certainly exist, I’m not so sure that A) they were in the region B) If stationed there they would not have been flown out or C) that if left to fend for themselves, they would still be wearing their "toxic dart guns”. Even if option C were true and the Navy had simply left 36 trained marine mammals to ride out the storm on their own (which is frankly unthinkable in my opinion), it is absurd to say that EOD trainers would have left them with their weapons system still strapped on.

Since these stories already fit nicely into the worldview and mindset of elite liberals and victim-identity hustlers, they are reported as a matter of fact without compunction or remorse. The theme that black people are incapable of acting humanely to each other under stressful conditions is not an actual news story, it is a script written long ago by patronizing liberals who sought to tame and care for these “unfortunate savages”. Treating blacks like animals in a Zoo is actually a perfect analogy to what liberal elites think of them. In a Zoo, animals are fed, housed, and protected from each other and more importantly the visitors, by benevolent zookeepers so that they can be observed and studied in an artificial habitat. Great Society anyone? With the dolphin story we have liberal elites instantly assuming that the military is not incompetent but acting out of a sinister motivation to harm or kill as many innocent people it can…and torturing poor dolphins by turning them into unwitting killers to boot!

Speaking of torture, 60 Minutes did a spot on Roy Hallums the American hostage in Iraq that you have probably never heard about. He was held in a dank basement for 10 ½ months bound and blindfolded, beaten, and threatened. Where is Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor calling for Roy’s justice? Don’t hold your breath waiting for that speech. 60 Minutes knew they had a great scoop with Mr. Hallums, but it turned out that he didn’t hate President Bush or oppose the Iraq War so at the end of the piece. Lesley asks him, “Did you receive a call from the President? Senators? Congressmen? Nobody?” The answer was no of course, but all things being equal, I’m sure old Roy is just happy that the President sent in a rescue team to find and liberate him.

I'm still alive

2005-09-24T23:31:00.000-07:00

Just really busy with the little one. I have not been inspired to write about much lately so if you have some requests... Have a great weekend.

Melting ICE

2005-09-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

As it turns out, my old SRT DID eventually make it to New Orleans, but minus 3 experienced team members from CBP. Once they get back to San Diego, I will publish an update about how they were utilized. That is if anybody on the Team will talk to me now. Even in primitive NOLA, my post on ICE HQ’s completely asinine and gutless leadership was printed out and distributed to the guys and certainly the San Diego SAC office as well. Bureaucracy feels it’s weakest and most defensive when the bright light of sanity and common sense are brought to bear on the institutional paralysis and political obstinacy that it spends much of its time trying to conceal. This is a fancy way of saying that ICE HQ read that post and didn’t like seeing its CYA shell game knocked off the table. Sorry.

But it’s about to get even worse for ICE. It was bad enough for Customs Investigations when they were put beneath caretaker INS Chief Michael Garcia when ICE was created. When James Ziglar resigned after sending Mohammed Atta a visa renewal in the mail six months after he dropped the WTC, Garcia was tapped to act in his stead until a new INS Commissioner could be nominated. Lo and behold, the abortion called the Department of Homeland Security survived the womb, and Mr. Garcia won the lotto by getting moved over to be the first chief of ICE. Garcia oversaw the devolution of a once great investigative agency by allowing the publicity hungry FBI to takeover terrorism investigations and seizure proceeds, turning away from contraband investigations in favor of illegal alien child porn cases, and the inevitable weight of incompetence brought over by the presence of barely literate INS Investigators that haven’t produced a decent case since the beginning of time.

Now, in the wake of legitimate criticism of DHS for Hurricane Katrina and the firing of Michael Brown of FEMA, the President has foolishly nominated a well connected creampuff to finish the job of destroying ICE that Garcia had so ably begun. Julie Myers is the 36 year old niece of General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and recently married to DHS Secretary Chertoff’s Chief of Staff, John F. Wood. I’m not kidding, she’s a true trifecta of affirmative action, nepotism, and cronyism. Her law enforcement experience amounts to basically 2 years as an Assistant US Attorney, and two years as the head of the BXA which enforces export regulations in the same way that Customs used to enforce importation of contraband. BXA is one of those tiny boutique federal law enforcement agencies that has a nationwide presence smaller that the ICE San Diego SAC office.

Michelle Malkin is all over this story and has some representative emails from current ICE employees that pretty much sum up their thoughts on hiring a snot nosed, 30something. Her law enforcement experience is insufficient to make her a viable Field Training Officer for junior Special Agents let alone the chief executive of a 25,000 person agency that purportedly is the lead investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. At a minimum, this appointment is a political disaster in the making if AQ is able to hit our homeland again. More importantly, the nation and the employees of ICE deserve someone with serious experience and leadership ability to take the reins, not another political hack checking blocks on the way to a cabinet post in future Republican administrations. I can only hope that the Senate will save the President’s and our bacon on this one, but I’m not optimistic.

Naval Special Warfare Comes Through at Crunchtime

2005-09-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

Press Release
Naval Special Warfare Task Group KATRINA
0905-002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NSW boat crews search for Stennis survivors

By JOC Scott Boyle
Naval Special Warfare Task Group Katrina Public Affairs

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – When flooded roads prevent the use of cars or trucks, shallow-draft river boats become the best option for getting around. The men of Naval Special Warfare who use them for river training in Stennis know that the Special Operations Craft Riverine (SOC-R) does many things well. The craft, specifically designed for shallow waterways, is primarily used for the insertion and extraction of Navy SEALs in hostile territory. But in the days following Hurricane Katrina, the SOC-R has taken on a different mission, a lifesaving one.

“The first day after the storm, the guys were itching to go, and that says a lot because many of them lost their homes as well,” said Chief Petty Officer (SWCC) Stephen Babb, a Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman (SWCC) and the officer-in-charge for a detachment from Special Boat Team 22.

The SWCCs and support staff of SBT-22 live and work in what was the direct path of Katrina’s eye.

“The first day we got underway was on Lake Pontchartrain near Eden Isles. We found people trying to fix their homes, and gave them food and water. They couldn’t thank us enough,” Babb said. “It’s our community as well. It was the first time some of my guys saw their own homes.”
Sept. 7, four of the team’s boat crews spent the afternoon searching for storm survivors along a 20-mile stretch of the West Pearl River.
Hundreds of homes, mostly fishing shanties floating on makeshift pontoons, lined the river banks. Many of these homes had limited road access under normal conditions, and were completely cut off from land after Katrina swept through the area. The fates of their owners are unknown.

Working in groups of two, the SWCCs piloted their boats from side to side, shanty to shanty, looking for any signs of life.

“Log, twelve o’clock!” hollered Petty Officer 1st Class (SWCC) Jereme Blackburn from the bow of his boat. A tree, probably 40-feet long and two-feet thick, was floating in the current directly in the boat’s path. Blackburn lay on his stomach, head hung over the edge, and directed Petty Officer 2nd Class (SWCC) Matthew Tabarez, the SOC-R’s driver, around the massive hazard. The boat slowly crept forward, dodging debris bobbing in the water. It inched to a broken dock, now separated from the home it was once attached to. The shanty, with part of its roof blown away, had floated to its current resting point on the riverbank. Tabarez inched forward until the SOC-R’s bow barely touched the dock. Blackburn and Petty Officer 3rd Class (SWCC) Andrew Cahill hopped off, and, making their way through tree branches and gaps in the dock’s wooden boards, approached the damaged building.

“U.S. Navy!” Cahill called out. “Is anyone here?”

They approached the front door, which was slightly open. Blackburn and Cahill cautiously entered the home, looking for any signs of life, calling out to anyone who might be in need of supplies or medical assistance. After a few minutes they emerged, shaking their heads from side to side. No one was home — a good thing under these circumstances. The three other SOC-Rs were doing the same thing on both sides of the river, inching into tributaries that were inaccessible by boat two weeks ago, yet were now up to 10-feet deep.

The mission continued for many hours. At the end of the day, about 25 homes were searched by the boat teams. Though none of their neighbors were found so far, they continue the search for anyone who might still be stranded and needing assistance. For the Sailors of SBT-22, this is more than a mission.

This is their community.

The Media and Leadership

2005-09-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me while reading Ben Stein’s piece in the Spectator that the MSM must see itself somehow as the self-appointed leader of the country. Notwithstanding those pesky elections we keep having, the MSM sets itself above all, castigating who it believes is not towing the line and elevating those who faithfully do so. There are many leadership styles, but there are very few effective ones. Some leaders try to be your buddy in the hope that you will follow them out of a sense of friendship. This technique rarely works out, since those who are subordinate end up thinking that they are equal and often above their coddling leader.

When I first joined the Navy, I was appointed to be the Recruit Chief Petty Officer (RCPO) in boot camp. I was all of 20 years old, had served in the Marine Corps Reserves for two years, and was going to be a Navy SEAL. Since I didn’t have a clue at the time about what it meant to be a leader, I decided to be an a$$hole. This is by far the easiest leadership method for the leader, and it can yield pretty good results…for a while. All I had to do was maintain an intimidating presence by yelling at everyone and never giving any positive feedback for fear that my charges would relax. That’s the thing, you have to keep the pressure on all the time or else the whole house of cards crumbles. The other thing is that you tend to get a few a$$kissers and a bunch of enemies, and since you have so many enemies, you have to tolerate and even embrace the a$$kissers. This is not a healthy state of affairs.

This is the MSM leadership style. Bully and intimidate everyone into either agreement or animosity. Ben highlighted this by saying…

the networks and newspapers have been quick to cry racism because so many of the victims were black. This is total nonsense. New Orleans is a mostly black city. Obviously, most of the victims of the storm would be black. No one has been able to point to a single instance in which black victims were mistreated because of their race by whites. In fact, just the opposite has happened. The whole story is of rescues and salvation by people of all races aimed at people of all races. In a gesture never seen before, the whole heart of the nation has taken in poor, bereft black families and sheltered them absolutely without regard to race. This is a mirror of the basic goodness of Americans and the disappearance of racism as an acceptable action basis of American life. It is also a measure of the total absence of racism in the heart of George W. Bush. The media may play this as a story of race versus race, but that is pure incendiary fantasy, and dangerous nonsense…

Essentially the MSM is enforcing its rule that black people are victims and white people are racists despite evidence to the contrary on both counts. It shames the American people by telling them that they don’t care for their poor black neighbors so that they will help their poor black neighbors. The problem is that the American people already instinctively do this with or without MSM hacks breathing down their necks. Interestingly, the people who do this as a matter of course are the ones that stopped listening to the MSM long ago.

They are motivated by real leaders in their own homes, communities, churches, and sometimes elected officials. Real leadership means that you set a high standard of conduct and try to achieve it yourself first every day. There are millions of people like this in America whose example serves to inspire those around them to do great things above and beyond what they would be capable of by themselves.

With so many enemies out there, it is no wonder that the MSM embraces all manner unsavory and disingenuous a$$kissers like Jesse Jackson, Ralph Neas, Chuck Shumer, the Kossaks and many more. If you are going to have enemies, you’ve got to have friends, too. And as we all know, people are known by the company they keep. The MSM has been keeping the pressure on its adherents for a very long time, and while it may not tire as taskmaster, its impact lessens daily as each of us turns away.

Overachievment Gap

2005-09-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

You are, without question, an impressive, accomplished and brilliant lawyer. You’re a decent and honorable man. You have a remarkable resume. There are those who say your outstanding and accomplished resume should be enough, that you should simply promise to be fair and that we should confirm…They need to believe that an overachiever can identify with an underdog who has nothing but the Constitution on his side; They need to understand that your first class education and your advantaged life will not blind you to the plight of those who need help and who rely on the protections of the Constitution, which is every one of us at one point or another... -Chuck Shumer 9/12/05, Senate Judiciary Committee

So let me get this straight. Being an outstanding nominee, scholar, judge, and human being is not really an advantage. Ostensibly, being an “overachiever” does not so much mean that you are hardworking, dedicated, and talented. These traits are liabilities because the meritorious don’t understand what it’s like to be a welfare sponging, chronically unemployed, member of a victim-identity group. As we all agree, the Constitution was written to keep those kinds of people (aka Democrats) from rising above their station and actually achieving something in life. Because achievers (aka Republicans) are always cold hearted, intolerant, ideologues that swim outside the “mainstream”. Which is why, Judge Roberts, you will not be getting Chuck Shumer’s vote.

That probably isn’t what Chucky would tell you he meant if you asked him, but the implications of that sort of rhetoric are what they are. There were dozens of equally repulsive competing “rationales” propagated by the left as to why Roberts is somehow unqualified to serve, but even uttering this concept on camera is a new technique for the Dems. It used to be that they would never actually spell out what they believed, content to peddle soft shoe talking points referring to the “plight” of the “underprivileged” and whatnot. He seems to be coming all the way out of the closet by saying essentially that achievement in and of itself is a curse and contributes to unfairness and inequality. Which means that we would all be better off somehow if we all just stood around with our hands out waiting for Uncle Sam to lead us around. But the “brilliant” liberal elites that would act as that “helping” hand are too lazy and self-centered to be troubled with actually holding that hand themselves. So they want to pay government bureaucrats to hold all of those hands for them. Of course they would have to raise taxes on the achievers to cover the expenses which also has the side benefit of bringing achievement under control making things more “fair”.

Transcript via Confirm Them

Stand by for Massive Hypocrisy

2005-09-10T00:25:00.000-07:00

Back in the 1975 a bunch of environmental whackos calling themselves “Save Our Wetlands” sued the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent the construction of levees separating New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. This lawsuit and many that followed in the intervening time period were largely responsible for the insufficient levee system that failed last week inundating parts of the city in 20 feet of water. This is not to excuse the chronic incompetence and corruption of local and state officials and their complicity by not adequately preparing their constituencies for potential disaster.

I predict that these same moonbat envirolosers will start to bitch and moan about the pumping of highly toxic and downright nasty water from the streets of New Orleans into Lake Pontchartrain. I just watched a Nightline report on the aftermath and they had pictures of dead fish floating in the lake. There is no doubt that the disgusting stew that is being dumped into the lake right now will cause untold thousands of defenseless and innocent creatures to be poisoned to death. I wonder if the proposed levee system that was blocked by these people 30 years ago would have harmed the wildlife of the region any worse than what is occurring now. The really funny part is that the moonbats are virtually obligated to object to pumping out the city into Lake Pontchartrain because to refrain would be explicit ambivalence to a man made environmental crisis.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The only real retort to this unpleasant set of circumstances would be, well let me see, ummmm......BUSH HATES BLACK PEOPLE! I wonder if they'll use that?

Reliance...Dependence

2005-09-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Everybody in this world has to rely on something or someone in order to survive. The choice that each of us makes when deciding who or what we do put our trust in is an important one. In the Gulf Coast this decision has proven to mean the difference between life and death.

New Orleans was declared a disaster area by President Bush days BEFORE the storm even made landfall, and it was at his urging that the Mayor of New Orleans declared a MANDATORY evacuation of the city. Once the decision was made to make the evacuation mandatory, the City of New Orleans had the OBLIGATION to provide resources to transport those citizens who were too ill, elderly, or vulnerable to get themselves to safe harbor. As we now know, the City and the State of Louisiana completely and utterly failed in their duty to their own citizens. It is a basic tenet of disaster relief that agencies must evacuate rescue vehicles and critical supplies from the affected area so that they are available for use in the aftermath. This did not happen. In addtion to these buses, city firetrucks, police cars, and other critical life saving tools were left to the elements and are now useless to help anyone. While this disturbing level of incompetence is shameful and inexcusable, it was not at all unpredictable.

Leaving aside the people who did heed the warnings, let’s discuss those who decided to stay behind. I can understand why someone would not want to leave their home despite the awareness of New Orleans’ unique vulnerabilities and disaster potential. What I cannot comprehend is the mindset that leads those people to somehow expect that someone else is going to provide them with food, water, diapers, formula, and their medications. FEMA guidelines state that victims of disasters should be able to sustain themselves for a minimum of 72 hours but “preferably a week”. That this would be prudent should be clear to anyone whether FEMA says so or not. This seemingly natural inclination to take responsibility for one’s own life, health, and financial security is shockingly absent in large portions of our society. This is not a crisis driven response, it is a perpetual state of being.

During times of normalcy the “safety net” while bursting at the seams, supports a vast portion of our citizenry at a subsistence level. This support while intended to be compassionate is in practice a form of enslavement. This dependence which has been cultivated over many years is now revealed in the starkest possible light, and it is heartbreaking to witness. The people languishing last week on a thousand street corners and freeway onramps seem to be waiting in vain for George Bush to personally pluck them out, dust them off, send them through the line at Hometown Buffet, and deposit them at the Holiday Inn. This description does not perfectly capture the essence of any individual, but I think it aptly describes the refugees as a group. It is especially painful to watch these people’s illusions of external support shattered so decisively under conditions that can only be described as inhuman. I do not begrudge them one ounce of frustration, fear, or anxiety, it’s just that much of this horrific experience was completely unnecessary.

On the rhetorical front, these issues are being cast somehow as a racist plot to destroy the black people of New Orleans. I saw Jesse Jackson on TV say about the impromptu refugee camp he visited with a film crew on I-10, “This is the hull of a slave ship.” Race hustlers like Jackson and Al Sharpton cravenly use the terror of their people in a state of crisis to perpetuate their own “honorary” positions as “leaders” in the community. This is done by shifting the blame for their plight from the mindset of victimhood and dependence to evil white Republicans like the President who in the execrable words of Kanye West, “…doesn’t care about black people” and who gave authorities, “permission to go down there and shoot us.” (h/t SixMeat)

Perhaps this time the survivors will come to realize that it was their own who betrayed them. They have been sold program after program by the politicians that they have elected, but there is no program conceived by man that can protect someone from a hurricane. The politicians responsible for this nightmare were elected by these pitiable people, and they turned their backs on them at the first opportunity. Jeff Goldstein is hoping for a dialogue to take place in this country by which identity politics can finally be exposed for the soul stealing scam that it is. I just hope that after this is all said and done, the lesson learned will be that when the chips are down don’t look for Uncle Sam, look in the mirror.

Bill Whittle Raids My Hard Drive

2005-09-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

I WISH! This concept and the essay to support it really had been percolating in my mind for a few days now, but Bill lays it down with such clarity and authority that I have to defer to the master. Read it. It's going to take a while, but read every word.

Beslan, USA

2005-09-04T06:23:00.000-07:00

In light of the anniversary of the Beslan massacre, here was what I wrote about it at the time.

I had a great Labor day weekend at the beach away from the blog, but I have done quite a bit of thinking on the Russian school massacre. I have been a member of not only SEAL platoons, but also the U.S. Customs (now ICE) Special Response Team (SRT) in San Diego. As you might imagine, both of these experiences taught me a great deal and added quite a bit to my tactical toolbox. One of the most important distinctions between the operators, training, and leadership of these two similar, but different entities is one of mindset.

I heard CSM Eric Haney (plankowner of Delta Force) on O'Reilly today discuss the difference between this hostage situation in Russia (and Iraq for that matter) and traditional hostage scenarios that occurred prior to 9/11. He correctly pointed out that the days of negotiating, wear them down siege situations are over. Terrorists now do not threaten to kill hostages until demands are met, they just start killing them until their demands are met. This is a disturbing tactical challenge that I believe our Federal, State, and Local SRT/SWAT assets are completely unprepared for. CSM Haney correctly pointed out the fact that Delta Force/SEAL Team SIX will NOT be available for a domestic situation of this type because they are fully engaged in the GWOT or at least several hours away in any case. FBI HRT in the same way would likely be hours away, and for reasons I will explain, not be of much more use.

In my SEAL platoons, we conducted assaults training in various situations always working up to live fire exercises when possible. While I can't speak for SIX or Delta, at no time in any of my assault training were the issues of negotiation, the priority of operator safety, or hasty retreat in the event of a well defended enemy brought up. We were taught to go in once we had received execute authority, dominate the house, kill the tangos, save the hotels, and patch up the wounded amongst the SEALs and hostages as needed. Maybe that was an oversight on behalf of my various training staffs, but somehow I don't think so. The platoon would hit the house pretty much no matter what unless we were effectively engaged during the approach to the structure at which point we would got to immediate action drill mode and things would get messy. But the idea of going into a structure in extremis was accepted as part of the deal, and it was up to us to create conditions under which we might gain advantage, but nevertheless make the hit.

In SRT, I went through some outstanding training (which I did not expect) and I came away from the Customs SRT school a more well rounded operator to be sure. Our focus was performing high-risk search/arrest warrants that were usually narcotics related, but counter-terrorism was also a mission as we are part of Homeland Security. While we did have SOPs for agent rescue scenarios, there was always a focus on the principle that the mission was secondary to agent safety. We had SOPs for retreating during certain situations, and we practiced them often. This is not to denigrate SRT/SWAT operators, but to say that there is a difference. One critical difference for my SRT was the lack of breaching options. That is truly a limiting factor as to what you could accomplish. You cannot enter a terrorist barricade situation with a ram and hooligan tool. We were not authorized to use explosive breaching or even shotgun breaching for liability reasons. Navy SEALs don't get sued. I have never been a member of a large metropolitan SWAT, but I know that they have an emphasis on negotiation and on not shooting suspects unless absolutely necessary. That is totally appropriate for what kind of job they have, and the political environment under which they work. SEALs don't have Channel 2, 4, 7, and 11 helos circling the building with big zoom lenses either.

That is why we are vulnerable to this type of terror attack, and why it could end up just as badly as the Russians. Remember, at Columbine, the SWAT did not enter the school until hours after the attack began. The two idiots there had already assumed room temperature by the time law enforcement got there. Britain uses the SAS to resolve internal hostage situations (Iranian Embassy), but they are so much smaller a nation and they don't have Posse Comitatus either.

What is the answer? Do we want to completely evolve our nations law enforcement tactical teams into de facto military units? I don't see what else we can do. For one, these agencies need to be trained with and released from liability for dynamic breaching techniques. In a world of "less than lethal options" these guys need to be more "lethal" as it were. We need the SRT/SWATs to be totally prepared to assault a terrorist hostage target in extremis without regard to the officer safety concerns or the liability issues that exist today. That is a radical mindset change for many SRT/SWAT officers, Team leaders, departments, and communities. But you know America, we're probably going to have to learn this lesson the hard way, because the squishy PC left still wants to free Mumia.

Beslan, USA II

2005-09-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

Once again, here is my response post to some suggestions made by readers at the time.

First of all thanks to Hugh and Glenn for the big link up on this topic, and thanks to everyone who joined the discussion. There were a lot of ideas floated in the comments that I would like to address. That said, I want to commend everyone on engaging this important problem and say that while I don't have all the answers, I'm pretty sure some of you don't either!

1) National Guard: The people in the National Guard (19th Special Forces Group) that would be capable of taking on this role of in extremis assault force are busy...in Afghanistan. They are the guys who live in the remote mountain base camps with a platoon of Marines along the Pakistan border. Otherwise, I'm sure they would be glad to take this mission on. To create a National Guard special mission unit out of whole cloth is also not possible, because the people that are qualified are also busy. One more thing. I have tremendous respect and admiration for 19th Group not only because the 3rd Battalion Commander is a close friend, but because they are one of the few NG/Reserve SOF units operating in the GWOT as a unit. This is not easy and takes an extraordinary committment from the guys in those A-Teams to stay sharp enough to be out on the front lines. SEAL Reserves have not done this, and to my knowledge have no plans to do so.

But to be at a level to accomplish a very difficult and technical assault to free children held hostage in a school, you had better be practicing and training full time. That is why existing LE Tactical Teams are the obvious choice. SF NG is not a full time job, but LAPD SWAT is. These officers and their compatriots in metropolitan areas are already 90% there in regard to the training necessary to conduct this mission. They lack only the tools and the legal protections to use dynamic breaching/assault techniques. Training these guys would not be difficult because the fundamental skills they already have are by and large outstanding. The main difference, as I said, is one of mindset. Again, by that I mean, the operators, Team leaders, departments, and the community leaders. Everybody has to agree that protecting our children from terror is the top priority, and that if an extreme situation like that arises, extreme measures must be implemented immediately. This is not a decision that should be made at the time of an incident. It needs to be discussed and debated and settled today so that if and when that day comes everybody knows what's going to happen.

2) Arming teachers: I have 3 letters for you...N.E.A. That stands for not going to happen. And frankly, I don't see how much security that adds to the equation anyway. Teachers are trained to instruct our children, not to repel a terrorist assault. I can see arming pilots because there is no help coming to them, but teachers should not have to bear the burden of packing heat and teaching our kids. They don't get paid enough as it is (my wife is a teacher), so they shouldn't be made responsible for school security. Besides, I don't believe that our society has evolved yet to the place where arming teachers is even remotely on the table as an option. Israel has evolved to that point, and for good reason.

One last thing. Cops, air marshalls, federal agents have been known to leave weapons laying around unsecured fairly often and they are full time LEOs. Teachers, whose thoughts are concentrated on non-violent issues (hopefully) are even more likely to be absent-minded with a weapon. It's really not feasible to have a school armory where the staff goes to load up for battle. If your weapon isn't in your hand within seconds of recognizing the onset of a Beslan situation, then it is no good to you.

3)High tech less lethal stuff: To be honest, I can't speak to this issue with a whole lot of authority, but I will say that it doesn't sound too viable. Sitting back and relying on technology to get the job done is a very American concept. In the military people carry a GPS, but if you can't get birds or the battery goes dead you had better be able to read a map. If your plan to save our children from suicidal terrorists hinges on a phaser tuned to stun or a sound gun, well I recommend a back up plan.

Well, those were the big issues and I hope that my insights are helpful to you as far as doing what we can to make our communities safer. Again, I appreciate the interaction, and invite you to visit often just to see what Froggy's up to.

P.S. The Mumia deal was WELL covered, thank you. OUT

Bureaucracy Kills

2005-09-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have a story to tell from a small corner of this crisis that demonstrates very clearly how unfathomably stupid and inefficient the Department of Homeland Security really is. DHS is frankly a metaphor for the entire civil service in this country at the local, state, and federal level.

Long time readers might remember that I was not only a Navy SEAL, but after leaving active duty in 2000, I became a US Customs Special Agent. After 9/11, the Customs Service was reorganized within the fledgling DHS and was subsequently split in half. The Customs Inspectors (the people that search your luggage when you arrive on an international flight) joined Immigration Inspectors and Border Patrol Agents to become Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Customs Special Agents (criminal investigators analogous to the FBI) joined Immigration Special Agents, Federal Air Marshals and Customs Air/Marine Division to form Immigration and Customs Enforcement. CBP is headed by the former Customs Commissioner while ICE is headed by the former INS Commissioner. Guess which agency is a total clusterf*ck? ICE became such a disorganized and ineffective agency that the Air/Marine Division jumped ship and became part of CBP. This will become relevant later in the story.

I was a member of the Customs/ICE Special Response Team (SRT) in the San Diego office, and it was the best thing I was able to do in my short career. The Team Leader is a Special Forces Lt. Colonel in the Utah National Guard who deployed to Afghanistan in 2002-3 and a really aggressive and knowledgeable operator. He and I worked together to train the Team to a very high level along with our outstanding Training Officer. The Team consisted of Special Agents from legacy Customs, and a couple of Pilots and Marine Enforcement Officers from CBP Air/Marine. The CBP guys had been on the Team when we were all in Customs together and prior to the ICE/CBP transition.

Fast forward to today. An order came out yesterday from ICE HQ to mobilize all SRTs to assist in providing security and tactical support to the rescue effort. This morning my old Team showed up at North Island Naval Air Station to board a C-130 flight to the region. The Team Leader, having led an entire Special Forces Battalion on a year-long deployment to A-stan, was naturally prepared to set the Team up with everything they would need for a six week deployment to the area. Perfect Team, perfect leader, perfect time, right? Wrong.

After being denied permission to board several aircraft throughout the day by ICE HQ, the Team formulated a plan. As you might imagine, these guys were itching to get over there so they could do something to help out. Operators like to operate. They had set up accommodations at a dormitory in a college nearby the area. The Team Leader had coordinated transportation with the National Guard because he’s a phreaking Lt. Colonel and he knows all of these people, he’s probably one of the best connected people in the National Guard after having been the subject of a 60 Minutes story 2 years ago. Still, ICE HQ says no go. So they decide to send the CBP Team members ahead to get things started while the ICE operators waited for the bureaucrats to cut them loose. When ICE HQ found out that CBP members were on “ICE SRT”, they immediately kicked the CBP guys off the Team despite the fact that they had been there for years because they weren’t members of ICE. But that’s not the worst part. ICE SRTs must have a minimum of 12 members to be operational. Yeah, that’s right, in the middle of a biblical disaster where experienced tactical agents could be critically important, the ICE bureaucrats cut off its nose to spite its face. Now the Team is non-operational, non-deployable, and pissed off!

Unbelievable.

Cindy Who?

2005-09-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

I always get anxious when the MSM starts getting into the weeds on a total non-story or elevating what would normally be an insignificant one to “FOX NEWS ALERT” status. While it has been widely admitted even by the MSM itself that CINDY! was largely the result of a bored White House Press Corps having to spend a hot summer month in a red state with no Starbucks, once it began it took on a sickening life of its own. In the same way the NATALIE! situation in Aruba had long ago reached a level of minutiae that was clearly not commensurate with the magnitude of the story. Then again, the MSM had “good reason” to be in Aruba so you can hardly blame them for that.

I remember thinking before 9/11 that this Gary Condit thing had completely spiraled out of control when Diane Sawyer did her one on one hour long special to grill him on Chandra Levy. It is interesting to reflect on how we allow petty little things in all of our lives to commandeer a position of importance that they do not deserve. My air conditioner broke down on Sunday last during something of a heat wave here in So Cal. As you might imagine this became a huge crisis in our household for the better part of the week, and I had to temporarily move my family to my parent’s house until the A/C was finally repaired this morning. While there is no question that this has been an inconvenience and 105F outdoor temps are not good for infants, it frankly pales in comparison to the plight of thousands in the Gulf Coast region who couldn’t even feed their children for days.

If the local, state, and federal governments were unprepared to evacuate and nourish the victims of Katrina, there were thousands of individuals in the path of that Hurricane that completely failed to prepare themselves and their families despite being warned to do so. The expectations of people in this country relative to the capability of government at all levels are shockingly unrealistic. I don’t rely on direct government assistance at all in my daily life, and I do not expect it to care for my family in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. In this time and place, we should all be planning to look after the needs of our families for at least a week. I have a lot more to say on this subject, but in the interest of decorum and decency, I will defer that discussion for a later time.

Let this tragedy serve as a lesson to be learned and take stock of your family’s ability to endure a catastrophic situation. Preparations will be different depending upon the natural or terrorist threat, but it behooves each of us to prepare nonetheless.

The Interdictor

2005-09-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

Read THIS BLOG if you want to know what is really happening in New Orleans. h/t SixMeat

Memorial Website for Navy SEAL Jeff Lucas

2005-09-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to a really nice memorial site for Jeff Lucas. Jeff was a member of the QRF that died trying to save his frog brothers in peril on the ground. There is a place that you can donate to his family as well. Keep that in mind for later though, for now our countrymen in the gulf coast need our help.

Creative Solutions For Temporary Housing

2005-09-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

The International Council Of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has put out an email to its members appealing for shopping center owners with vacant space to contact the Department of Homeland Security. Empty big box stores, like old Wal-Marts, are proposed to be used to house gulf coast refugees. This is the creativity of American business at its best. The utilization of this vacant space for our fellow Americans will be a critical support pillar in the ongoing effort to cope with the damage of Katrina. Additionally, the shopping center owners are going to be able to lease the space to the DHS and get some revenue from a space that had been producing none. Beautiful.

Return to the Mekong Delta

2005-09-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

When planning takes place for a rescue and recovery effort in the aftermath of a catastrophic natural disaster like Katrina, I would expect that officials would need to rely primarily on ground distribution of supplies and evacuation support. Airlift is typically used for acute and emergent pockets of need and is incapable of widespread distributive or transportation requirements. During the Tsunami disaster in December, the destructive force of the water leveled nearly everything in its path…and then it receded. Katrina has dealt us a set of cards that nobody could have fully anticipated or frankly comprehended, and it will require the immediate resurrection of the Brown Water Navy to adequately address it.

In the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam, the US Navy and Coast Guard operated in an environment not dissimilar from the one that Katrina has wrought. Thousands of boats ranging from giant flat bottomed landing craft to Swift boats to PBRs and all the way down to kayaks in some instances were involved in the effort to gain control of the Vietcong in the Delta. Geographically, the Mississippi Delta and the Mekong are very closely related which accounts for the fact that the SEAL Team’s riverine warfare training unit has been there for years. Special Boat Unit (SBU) 22 is located in Stennis, MS after having moved (and changed names) from Rodman Naval Station in the Panama Canal. The Navy has not engaged in a large scale riverine operation since Vietnam, and has been unable to put together a coherent riverine strategy for Iraq.

I was involved in a riverine emergency response operation in Bolivia in 1995 whiled deployed there with my platoon from SEAL Team FOUR. We were training Bolivian Drug Police (UMOPAR) in jungle warfare tactics from a Bolivian Navy Base in Trinidad. While we were there, heavy rains swelled the Rio Mamore and Rio Chapare causing heaving flooding in the town of Puerto Villaroel. The Bolivians asked me and a DEA medic from Operation Snowcap to assist in the relief effort. The State Department supplied us with medical supplies and food, and we traveled south against the river’s current for 5 days on a double decker flat bottomed boat. Upon our arrival, we set up a hasty medical clinic to treat the people for various conditions related to the poor sanitation in the area. We took a “Piranha” small boat to a Yuqui Indian village to distribute food to the people there as well. The Chapare valley is one of the primary coca producing regions of Bolivia, and when we were operating in the region, we had to be vigilant to keep an eye on the narcotraficantes that were watching our every move.

These two types of missions are very logistically difficult when performed separate from each other. The current lawless conditions suggest that the mission of our nation would be to combine them in a sense. Clearly New Orleans isn’t the Rung Sat Special Zone, but aggressive law enforcement and suppression of looting is necessary to facilitate the rescue and recovery efforts. I don’t know where all those riverine craft are now, but I hope that somebody can scrape some together, get them in the region, and fast.

It Didn’t Take Very Long

2005-09-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

for the international left to callously use the misery and death of thousands that RESULTED FROM A NATURAL DISASTER WHICH IS BY DEFINITION NOT SUBJECT TO THE CONTROL OF ANY HUMAN BEING to bludgeon not only the President but the United States en masse. It goes without saying that these people have no shame, so let’s dispense with the concept that we are dealing with fellow travelers but rather a conglomeration of crazed, mouthbreathing ideologues lacking any sense of decency or compassion. Thomas at REDSTATE (h/t PW) valiantly attempts to comprehend the mindless, necromantic pinheads by channeling the implications of their charges…

This madness is all of a piece with the “Bush was on vacation when this happened” idiocy. Yes, we could have used his heat vision to seal some of the levees at weak points, and his superhuman strength might have been enough to save some collapsing concrete. But what we really needed was for him to get the rest of the Justice League out there, especially Green Lantern. Or at least to reverse the Earth’s rotation and save us from this disaster.

I really can’t add to Thomas’ and Jeff’s elaborate (and well linked) point by point fisking so do yourself a favor and check them out.

UPDATE: Well, well, well looks like we have some angry moonbats flapping their wings in the Frogosphere this morning. Sometimes you gotta let the crazies uncork their inane conspiratorial ravings just so the rest of us can see them for what they really are. Go ahead nutjobs, flail away. Every demented Bushitler McHaliburton post you write serves to validate and solidify my point. I guess civil order has not just broken down in the gulf region. Let me know when you are all done masturbating on my site so I can mop the floor.

Lighter Fare: Fantasy Football

2005-08-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

Things have become serious very fast on the site and in this country, but I want to dial it down a notch. My fantasy football draft is tomorrow night and I have the 5th pick of 10. This is clearly the worst pick to have because I will never have the chance to pick 2 players in rapid succession. Oh well. I know that Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, Shaun Alexander, and probably Daunte Culpepper will be picked ahead of me. Who should I pick first that will essentially anchor my fantasy team this year? And, for those of you who are fantasy footballers, what is your draft strategy? Do you pick RBs first? QBs? Or just go for whoever is top rated and is available regardless of position? Tell me your secrets!

I offer up this topic not only for its informational value to me, but also to assess the number of male readers that frequent this site. I have a feeling that I have become something of a chick magnet. Not in the same way as Julio of course, but you know what I mean.

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits (Mt. 7:16)

2005-08-31T00:55:00.000-07:00

Jesus spoke those words 2000 years ago in order to teach his disciples how to assess the motivations of people that they encounter in their ministries. Only God can know the heart of a man (Jer. 17:9-10) and truly peer into a person’s soul; we humans do not have this ability. Each of us believes that we KNOW when someone is being honest or that we can detect the motivations of our closest family and friends, but we cannot. The best we can do is to check the fruit that a person’s life or actions have borne. In other words, do the results of a person’s statements and actions match up with the purported goals of those statements and actions? Additionally, are those results (fruit) affecting a positive outcome, or are they causing bitterness, strife, pain, failure, or hatred? It is natural for a person to take stock of the fruit they have brought forth, and to either continue what they are doing or to make a change.

The letter I published from the SEAL Chief very poignantly answers the question of whether the actions and words of the anti-war left have brought forth good fruit or poisonous fruit. The is no objective doubt that the actions of leftist agitators have had or are intended to have a negative impact on a) the morale, safety, and well being of deployed US Servicemembers b) the potential for victory in the Global War on Terror c) the future of millions of enslaved muslims who will be thrust into a bloody and protracted internal conflict if abandoned d) the US’ ability to defend our Homeland from an onslaught of follow on terrorist attacks that may involve the deployment of Weapons of Mass Destruction and e) the economic prosperity of the US to achieve their vision of worldwide economic parity that brings low “capitalist-imperialist” Americans instead of raising up the populations of third world nations. Only one of these potential outcomes is a well-known stated goal of the anti-war leftists; they are openly working toward the defeat of the United States in not only Iraq, but all fronts of the GWOT. They remember the important lessons that their hippy parents, college professors, or even the old school lefties themselves used to great effect in the 1960’s to ensure that the US failed to achieve victory and was thrust into a period of decline that ended with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. US wars are lost and won in the hearts and minds of the American people despite the actual results of combat operations in a conflict.

While it is possible to rhetorically separate the ideas of supporting the war and supporting the troops, the net effect of leftist propaganda on the troops themselves is an example of bitter fruit being literally spat out in the faces of bonafied American heroes. Marine Sgt. and Navy Cross recipient, Marco Martinez describes an encounter he had on a junior college campus recently,

“A woman on campus had apparently learned I might be a Marine. When I told her I was, she said, ‘You’re a disgusting human being, and I hope you rot in hell!’ ”

This is not merely an anecdotal occurrence; this is an increasingly pervasive and unpleasant experience for veterans across the country.

Just as during the Vietnam war, our enemy is engaging in an intentional and coordinated media campaign designed to break the will of the American people. And just like in Vietnam, they are openly and overtly aided and abetted by the American left. The fact that this is ongoing, dispels any pretense that US troops are in any way “supported” by the leftists who climb on their backs and upon their caskets to raise the symbols of their opposition aloft for all to see and heed. If that were not enough, these same leftists lobby and litigate in an effort to weaken the government’s ability to prevent future terrorist attacks on our Homeland and attack those who oppose them as racists and fascists. They are fond of equating the US with Nazi Germany where 11 million Europeans were systematically murdered by a madman bent on racial purity despite overwhelming evidence that Saddam Hussein had committed a vast and racially motivated genocide in the region before being deposed by force.

With the luxury of hindsight, we are now able to assess the fruit borne by the anti-war leftists of the past. We know that millions in SE Asia were interred by NVA communists into “re-education” camps where many were mercilessly tortured to death. We know that our withdrawal from Vietnam precipitated the Cambodian genocide of more than 2 million people under Pol Pot. We know that while much of SE Asia has experienced sustained and prolific economic growth thereby markedly raising the standard of living for millions, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia exist in a state of perpetual economic depression and poverty. We also know that the 1968 Tet Offensive was an unmitigated military disaster for the North Vietnamese, and that they switched from a military to a political war against us as a result. We know from the writings of General Giap that the North was thoroughly beaten on the battlefield and were rescued by leftists in the US who managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by demonizing our troops as "baby killers" and "war criminals".

This is precisely what today’s leftists have in store for America if they are not defeated right along with Al Qaida on the domestic battlefield of public opinion. The first step is to expose their motivations by exposing their fruit. Do not allow them to continue the charade that they are supporting our troops in any conceivable way. The actual result of their efforts is to sustain the morale of the terrorists, suppress the morale of our troops, create an atmosphere of hostility toward veterans and military personnel, and disparage the real and meaningful sacrifices made by our fallen heroes. There can be no reconciliation between their contention of support and the demonstrable harm and pain that they have wrought.

By their fruit ye shall know them.

STOP USING MY SERVICE AS A SHIELD FOR YOUR COWARDICE AND SEDITION

2005-08-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

Regulars of the Frogosphere will remember some "Words Of Wisdom" from a SEAL Chief friend of mine offered in the aftermath of Operation Red Wing. He was led to write this letter to the editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, but since there is no chance that they will print it, I decided that I would...

I am an active duty service member and have served one combat tour in Afghanistan and another combat tour in Iraq. I have had several friends and associates killed fighting this war. I have waited many years listening to other people exercise their rights, and today I exercise mine. This evening, I was driving next to the Hotel del Coronado and was deeply disturbed by an anti war protest staged on both sides of the road. People were holding all the signs we see on TV and in the paper [like] “George Bush is not my President” and others with similar statements. Additionally, they were holding a quilt with cutouts of people symbolizing our war dead from Iraq.

First, I would like to say to these people that in fact George Bush is your President. As we live in a republic commonly referred to as a democracy, and he received more votes that John Kerry, it is called a “majority”. So, ALL American citizens are obligated to refer to Mr. Bush as President.

Secondly, I have had enough of these people using my service as a shield for their seditious statements and cowardice. They claim to support us as troops but not the policies of our government. This to me makes no sense as we have all volunteered to serve, many after September 11, 2001. So, this logic does not work. And, I can tell you from personal experience that seeing these protests is incredibly painful when you are in serving in combat. I understand that most people do not read or understand history, but if they did they would understand that they are giving aid to the enemy by holding these rallies, prolonging the conflict as it emboldens the insurgency. Terrorists read and manipulate the media and apparently several Americans who truly do not understand what they are doing. Or, as I suspect, several of them do and are intentionally trying to subvert our government. The Constitution is only a piece of faded paper stating grand and wonderful ideas. But, in reality the ONLY thing that GUARANTEES your right to free speech is me and my friends who willingly, repeatedly leave our families to fight for that freedom. If you did truly care about freedom, you would pick up your rucksack and join me. If you did, maybe I could stay home for a bit and protest something. (emphasis Froggy's)

And in closing, [regarding] the quilt representing the fallen; how dare you disgrace the memory of my fallen brothers and sisters? You are wittingly or unwittingly destroying the glory they have earned. Yes, I mean glory. Glory, like Honor and Courage, are not dirty words. They mean something, something pure, something I’m afraid these people do not understand. The men and women symbolized on that quilt died serving, not complaining, so show some respect. They are not cloth cut outs to me, a vehicle for you to push a misguided political agenda, they are people, and they died for you, because you would not stand up and serve. So, put a flag outside your house; visit a veteran’s hospital, or donate money to charities that support their families. Because I will tell you this; they died, and I serve, for our Country, our Buddies, and our Families. Not your right to commit sedition.

ROGER. SOLID COPY. FROGGY OUT.

UPDATE: Just so you bedwetters out there are aware, Sedition is an actual crime 18 USC 115 Section 2388:

Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully makes or conveys false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies; or
Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully causes or attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or willfully obstructs the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, to the injury of the service or the United States, or attempts to do so—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

Just because this law is politically unfeasible to enforce, doesn't mean that those of you that are engaging in this sort of activity are not seditious and traitorous slime. You are. If I happen down the street and see you mocking the sacrifices of my comrades, your'e likely to catch the beating of a lifetime.

Hating Our Troops American Style

2005-08-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well I think we can pretty much dispense with the whole “Support the Troops but not the War” load of crap. What must it be like to look in the mirror after spending a long day outside Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington DC mocking and tormenting wounded soldiers? This is déjà vu all over again when the parents of these contemptible slime were calling the parents of fallen soldiers in Vietnam and telling them how glad they were that their “baby killer” son had died.

"We went by there one day and I drove by and [the anti-war protesters] had a bunch of flag-draped coffins laid out on the sidewalk. That, I thought, was probably the most distasteful thing I had ever seen. Ever," Pannell, a member of the Army's First Cavalry Division, told Cybercast News Service. "You know that 95 percent of the guys in the hospital bed lost guys whenever they got hurt and survivors' guilt is the worst thing you can deal with," Pannell said, adding that other veterans recovering from wounds at Walter Reed share his resentment for the anti-war protesters.

In an incredibly hubristic example of either psychotic rationalization or cold-blooded evil, “Luke” the protestor provides an explanation for his reprehensible actions

…"If I went to war and lost a leg and then found out from my hospital bed that I had been lied to, that the weapons I was sent to search for never existed, that the person who sent me to war had no plan but to exploit me, exploit the country I was sent to, I would be pretty angry," Luke told Cybercast News Service. "I would want people to do something about it and if I couldn't get out of my bed and protest myself, I would want someone else to do it in my name," he added.

How utterly and shamefully disingenuous and repugnant can a “man” be? The only closely analogous situation to this that I can come with would be to evict a woman from her home the week she had twins, tow her car, and call child protective services to report her for putting her babies out on the street…while laughing at her. That is the kind of sinister motivation at work here. Luke hates the troops more than anything in this world besides George Bush. His cowardice is assaulted and magnified every day when he wakes up to realize that he doesn’t have the courage to fight for a dryer at the Laundromat let alone to defend his family and friends from those that would harm them (that is if his patchouli stinkin’ a$$ ever does laundry).

Luke’s natural capacity for shame at his weakness and gutlessness should produce gratitude for those willing to stand in for him on the bulwarks, but his hippy parents very likely attenuated this innate impulse and turned loose on the world a subhuman factory of hatefulness and depravity. And there are many just like him. So ingrained in them is a pervasive victim status that they scour the planet searching for persecutors that they might adopt in order to maintain the façade of their own oppression. Decadence of that magnitude is only possible in a place where oppression has been completely eradicated generations into the past. And as we know the oppressed have “absolute moral authority” and armed with that authority are capable of acts of barbarism and profligacy that fiction authors could never concoct.

The ugliness and putridity of an organization that would engage in acts of cruelty against their countrymen of such proportions has become once again a scourge in this nation. The irony of this situation is about as thick as I am capable of imagining since it is the soldier that gives the protestor the ability to stand on that soapbox and vomit forth such vile and bilious filth. It is of note to say that the men recuperating in Walter Reed are of a caliber and quality that allows them to forge ahead undaunted in the face such animals. They are much better men and not encumbered with the victim impulse that drives the protestors as they have carried on their backs the load of our safety and freedom. While it is not fair that they must also bear this burden, it is well within their capabilities to do so.

God Bless Our Troops and God Bless America

Blackfive also reporting.

Luke and his ilk are not fit to lick the sweat off of... well you know.
Pulitzer Prize for Michael Yon

UPDATE: The issue of the appropriateness of holding anti-war protests adjacent to a military hospital is an obvious one. As far as I'm concerned, if the government can prevent pro-life protestors from coming within a certain distance of an abortion clinic, it stands to reason that these protests should not be allowed outside of Walter Reed. I don't know if the Freepers or whoever is spearheading the counter-protests have pursued this angle, but it is certainly worthy of exploration.

Denver this week

2005-08-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Surveying my vast empire! HA! I'll be in town for the rest of the week, and we've got tickets to the Indianapolis Colts/Broncos game. If something interesting happens, you might get a post out of me. No promises though.

The V-Word

2005-08-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

"We are locked into a bogged-down problem not unsimilar, dissimilar to where we were in Vietnam." This golden nugget of wisdom comes from Vietnam veteran, Senator, and Presidential hopeful Chuck Hagel. When my daughter says, “Daddy, daddy, watch this!” I know that she is feeling a little left out with a new baby brother in the household. Which is essentially what the Republican Senator from Nebraska is doing when he goes on ABC’s “This Week with a Clinton Aide” and deals the Vietnam card. It seems Chuck Hagel thinks maybe he can ride Cindy Sheehan’s coattails for a while and snatch up some of those anti-war voters before veering back to the center of the road. I guess his staff forgot to tell him that being a Republican Vietnam veteran that likes to flirt with the left and toss softballs to the MSM didn’t work as an electoral strategy before 9/11 just like being a Democrat Vietnam veteran reliving your anti-war past didn’t work last year.

It is not difficult to tell if a person remains grounded in the realities that they learned the hard way in their youth. 20 years ago Chuck Hagel probably would have the lesson of Vietnam burned into his soul. That lesson being, of course, that the United States cannot be defeated on the battlefield, but is vulnerable only when politicians back home lose bowel and bladder control and start defecating on the mission and urinating on the public’s support for the war. But to have committed the same sin that doomed his comrades and him in decades past means he must have sold out those principles long ago. In the immortal words of Tony Montana in Scarface, Hagel is “a pig that don’t fly straight.” But a pig that should know better.

The implication in making the Vietnam analogy is that the United States should somehow follow a similar path that failed completely in Southeast Asia… pull our troops out now. Not only did we shamefully and unnecessarily lose a war, we subjected millions to torture, re-education camps, and genocide. But hey, so what, right? Those were just simple “gooks” that couldn’t come across the Pacific to do anything about it. America could hide behind its nukes and get on with the business of destroying the family, perpetuating the ghetto producing welfare state, and snorting blow. Well excuse me if I don’t jump on another Baby Boomer train to nowhere.

This time the “gooks” can and will come over here and do something about it if we hike up our national skirt and tip toe out of Iraq. There is nobody left to nuke, and I need gas for my Escalade! Kicking a$$ and hanging tough are all we have. There is no Plan B. Nothing that anyone is willing to accept at least. We had gutless crybabies back in WWII, but what media we had (Check that out) didn’t let them get too loud. Since Dr. Seuss isn’t around anymore, it’s up to us bloggers to kidney punch and nut kick these sissies into shape or at least shameful silence.

By the way Chuck, if the Kos Kidz successfully enact the Final Solution to the moderate Democrat problem, then there are only going to be two places to find votes. The Republican party or the seething pool of cowardice that remains after the moonbats are done. I don’t think they’ll like you anyway.

Reunion Roundup

2005-08-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

It’s strange that last year at the Reunion I was walking around grilling the Vietnam guys on the relative likelihood of a Swift boat inserting CIA guys into Cambodia. I guess it was important at the time, but so much has happened since then that it hardly matters at all now. I fired up the site only a couple weeks before, and I was part of Hugh’s nascent blogging veterans for truth.

As I passed over the Coronado Bridge I realized why many Americans don’t identify readily with the military. To my left was 32nd St. Naval Station, to my right was North Island Naval Air Station, beneath me was a returning frigate, and above me was a UH-60 Seahawk helicopter. I don’t live in a city like San Diego anymore where these things are commonplace and it was kind of bizarre to see so much military hardware in close proximity. That the sight of this startled me caused me to recognize how foreign these things must be to somebody from say Minnesota.

Last year I watched Jesse Ventura nearly get his a$$ kicked by some of the Boys after he tried to get by with some of his “war for oil” and “I support the troops but not the war” crap. This year he looked like a homeless version of Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Here, you be the judge.

On a serious note, turnout was lower than usual, and there were only a handful of active duty guys which is to be expected under the circumstances. But there were enough there to keep story time going well into the night. It occurred to me and a fellow reservist and BUD/S classmate that these guys who are doing all the fighting today were new guys when we were doing platoons. We are the unlucky and unhappy crew of Frogmen that served between Vietnam and the GWOT. I shared a beer with one of my BUD/S Instructors at McP’s last night who had retired with 21 years having never fired a shot in anger.

That was the best part for me, though. Catching up with many of my instructors and remembering all of the students and other Instructors of the era. It was cool to reminisce about some of the crazy things that were said and done back then and to find out how the Instructors were scheming our demise at the time.

The brand new Chief Petty Officer Selectees were selling a “Fallen But Not Forgotten” T-shirt to benefit the Naval Special Warfare Foundation. They will be on sale later at the UDT/SEAL Association Store for $20. This time and this time only Froggy will allow non NSW related personnel to not only purchase but even wear the SEAL paraphernalia.

I brought my young daughter with me for the weekend and she stayed with her grandmother while I was attending events and performing reserve duties. I got her back this afternoon at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot near downtown San Diego. Before we made the drive home, I drove her over to the “grinder” where several platoons of Marine recruits were performing close order drill at 1500 on Sunday in 80F heat under the tender instruction of Marine Drill Instructors. I tried to explain to her that these are the people that protect us from the bad men. I hope she understood that.

Trying to Disable Able Danger

2005-08-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have been holding my fire on this one until the story reached the “we need to discredit this thing before the Clintons and the Dems get hurt” phase. We have reached that phase. Mickey Kaus is out in RCP this morning pimping the “2 Atta Theory” proposed by Tom Maguire. The “theory” being that the name Mohammed Atta showed up on a Lexis Nexis search as a completely different terrorist working with Abu Nidal back in the early 90s. And it was THAT Mohammed Atta that Able Danger identified, not the guy who flew the airliner into the WTC. If true that would effectively nullify the criticisms against the 9/11 Commission and the Clinton Administration’s “wall” policy. But is it true?

No. Why?

Because Able Danger also identified Marwan al Shehhi, Khalid al Midhar, and Nawaf al Hamzi in addition to Mohammed Atta. I’m pretty sure the data mining operation used by SOCOM in Able Danger was something more elaborate than Lexis Nexis, and I am fairly certain that having identified the key leadership element of the cell responsible for 9/11, the “2 Atta” theory oughta be $hitcanned.

Trying to Understand a Loss

2005-08-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the UDT/SEAL West Coast Reunion in San Diego, and Julio and I will be joining our comrades past and present to rekindle old friendships and to mourn a great loss. This Reunion is somewhat unprecedented in that there hasn’t been one following a loss of 11 SEALs in combat before. I really do not know what to expect or if anything further has been planned except to just drown our sorrows in beer and cigars. One thing that I do know about the Teams, the Navy, and the military in general is the tendency to look at a situation that went awry and to try to assign accountability and responsibility to some person or decision. This is an institutional problem that is rooted in the idea that lessons must be learned from every experience, and that someone is always ultimately responsible for every action good or bad.

While I am not privy to the deliberations that are certainly ongoing about why we lost 19 SOF operators or what could have been done to prevent it, I suspect that there are many at SOCOM and elsewhere contemplating exactly that. I have received an unofficial “debrief” account of what happened on the SR mission and the subsequent actions of the QRF that went in to save them. I am not going to go into that here in an open forum, but I do want to address the broader issues of the operation.

SR teams sometimes get compromised. That’s just the way it is. The fact that these guys got caught in the Taliban’s backyard in and of itself is not necessarily an indictment of their tactical proficiency or fieldcraft, but it’s more likely an issue of insufficient or incorrect intelligence. The problem with intel is that you often don’t find out that you don’t have enough of it until it’s too late to do anything about it. My understanding of how they were compromised amounts to basically a freak occurrence. I don’t want to elaborate any further, but when you are snooping around near where people live, sometimes those people will stumble upon you.

When the SR team was compromised and engaged by a vastly numerically superior force, they called for assistance. The Taskforce Commander can do one of two things in that situation: assist them or not. Chances are good that the TF Commander had some kind of UAV surveillance in the area, and he therefore knew essentially how grave the SR team’s situation really was. Since LCDR Kristensen was on the bird that crashed, it is clear that the SEAL leadership element at the TF had no qualms about going in to get the SR team. Since the Nightstalkers flew the mission, it is clear that their leadership element was willing to take the risk of a daytime insertion in order to rescue their SEAL brothers. And since the QRF did in fact launch, it is clear that the TF Commander decided in his experience that he had to make the attempt to get his men out of there. The fact that people died as a result of those decisions does not make them incorrect. Soldiers and Sailors die in war, that’s just the way it is.

In my opinion, there was no recklessness demonstrated by the TF leadership in this situation. That Mr. Kristensen jocked up and went in with the Boys indicates that he was putting his money where his mouth was. As an O-4, he was not a member of any SEAL Platoon. Navy SEALs, SOF, and the US military are not in the habit of leaving men on the battlefield to be killed or captured if there is anything that can be done to prevent it. That is why US troops demonstrate the esprit de corps and aggressiveness in combat that they are renowned for… because each serviceman knows that his unit and his buddies will do whatever it takes to save him if necessary.

Is this a weakness? I could be considered as one from a certain point of view. We know that UBL trained the Somalis to shoot down helos in Mogadishu so that he could kill Americans converging on the crash site. While 18 US soldiers died in that battle, I have never considered it a failure, but rather a badge of honor that so many would give so much to save so few. As an American fighting man I am expected to perform at a level above all soldiers in the world, in exchange for that I expect that my comrades and government will back me up when I am at my point of need. That is just the way it works.

It is sad that so many outstanding men died on that day to save one exceptional man’s life, but as the Admiral said at the Memorial in Hawaii, “If no one had been rescued, the effort would have been worth it.” He is right.

The Reason I Stay Navy

2005-08-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

After 10 years of active duty there is only ONE REASON that I have stayed in the Reserves. Surfing Pt. Mugu Naval Air Weapons Center is truly a privilege. In my opinion, it is the best wave in Southern California bar none.

It is also the most difficult to ride and since it only breaks in the summertime, every year I have to relearn how to ride the place. I have broken at least 3 surfboards over the past 8 years because the wave breaks powerfully in shallow water. Everything about the place is weird. The water is always much colder than the surrounding area due to a submarine canyon that creates cold water upwelling just offshore. That deep canyon runs south to north directly into the lineup which allows waves traveling toward the beach to accelerate preventing the continental shelf from sapping too much energy from a swell. The weather is a spooky overcast year-round, and is heavily populated by Sea Lions. The Sea Lions like to hang around the mouth of Mugu Lagoon, a tidal estuary, because of the abundance of fish. Generally speaking wherever Sea Lions go, Sharks are usually not far away. While Mugu is rumored to be sharky, I haven't heard of an attack since I started surfing there in the mid-90's. Half of the beach is a rocky seawall that can get a little sketchy at high tide. Fortunately, the bottom contour of the surf spot is sandy as opposed to a rock reef.

The surf spot is broken up into 4-5 separate peaks that all break similarly, but the peaks are more consistent the further east you go. Unlike any other beach I have surfed in California, the peaks shift sideways to the west as the wave develops. Southeast swells generate waves that break parallel to the beach sweeping from east to west and becoming extremely hollow as they cross each sandbar. The waves themselves are some of the steepest and hollowest in the state which means that once the surfer gets up on the board, he RAPIDLY accelerates to the bottom. Once successfully reaching the base of the wave, the surfer must make a sudden and sharp left turn in order to stay in the midst of the critical part of the wave. If you are able to perform this turn and remain standing, chances are you’re in one of the most perfect A-frame barrels of your life. This is easier said than done, however, and the wave basically offers the surfer a 6 foot wide area on either side of the peak where he must be positioned in order to catch it. The stand outs at Mugu actually take off “backdoor” which means that they stand up on the right side of the peak, duck under the lip of the wave and surf out the other side.

Surfers in Ventura County will do anything to “get a pass” onto the base, and unfortunately, it’s not very difficult. I have heard stories of civilians attending the base chapel in order to schmooze the chaplain into issuing them a pass thus ending their spiritual journey at the chapel and instead worshipping at the beach. This week the kids are back in school which makes a huge difference in the amount and character of the crowd in the water. Weekends are always crowded and I haven’t been there in years when there wasn’t at least one person video taping a pro or semi pro surfer that managed to get in the gate. In addition to vehicular access, many people drive their boats to the spot and anchor offshore to paddle in. There used to be a Pt. Mugu Surf Club comprised of active duty, reserves and DOD employees which were the only people allowed to surf there. It is an idea worth reconsidering for the sake of the crowds and obvious security issues.

My hope is to be able to backdoor the place regularly, but it’s going to be a while before I’m that good. Once I retire, I’ll be able to go there for life, so I’m just hangin’ on.

BTW, that’s not me in the picture. But it should be.

Warrior Psychology 101

2005-08-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

I have often read and heard the cliché that says, “The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars.” This quote is attributed to General Douglas MacArthur who was clearly a man acquainted with war and its consequences. In my experience a more apt quote that summarizes the thoughts of the warriors that I have served with would be this one by Thomas Paine, “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” Better still is this scripture that the Nightstalkers are known to quote from time to time, Isaiah 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”

It is that internal sense of responsibility for the safety and protection of the Nation and their families that inspires most people to join the military, and that sentiment is universal in the SOF community. I don’t think that I have ever met a fellow SEAL that did not feel this way. I have met veterans that have suffered psychologically from their service who would be partial to Gen. MacArthur’s quote, but this is to be expected from warriors that have matured and reflected for years upon their service. The day that America’s warriors do not feel that primordial drive to meet the enemies of our Nation on the field of battle, is the day that this country will succumb to those enemies. This day is not at hand, I can assure you.

Although military recruiting has clearly suffered over the past year as a result of the unrelenting propaganda campaign against the Iraq War by the MSM, reenlistments by deployed troops have never been so robust. I don't think that Selective Reenlistment Bonus’ can explain this “phenomenon” since most of the troops that are re-upping are not eligible for them. I do not know what Casey Sheehan’s reason was for reenlisting, but since he was certain that he would be deploying to Iraq it seems reasonable to assume that the instinct to fight for his Nation was something that Casey felt deeply. That he answered his Nation’s call to service with the sacrifice of his life indicates to me that he is worthy of honor and gratitude from his fellow citizens and especially his family.

For that reason, I believe that his mother’s very public effort to steal his honor is one of the most despicable acts that can be perpetrated by a family member of the fallen. Nothing would bring me greater shame than to know that my own mother was using the willful sacrifice of my very life as an opportunity to garner public attention for the belief that my life was wasted. I am utterly disgusted by a woman, her loss notwithstanding that would allow her son’s enemies and those of the Nation he died to defend to profit from his death. Her self centered actions have created what amounts to a pack of hungry hyenas fighting over the corpse of her fallen son. The honor and respect that Casey is entitled to is being torn apart by the likes of Moveon.org, Michael Moore, Code Pink, the Kossacks, and the MSM anti-war establishment for the whole world to see.

Casey, as a brother warrior, I bid you rest and pray that you have not seen what your mother has wrought. RIP.

Cox & Forkum weighs in

Uhhh, When David KKK Duke supports your cause, you can be certain that you are wrong.

Looks like Senior Chief Dan Healy's mom knows the deal.

Iron Butt Ride for SEALs and Nightstalkers

2005-08-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

For all of you East Coast bikers out there in the Frogosphere there is an event coming up that will not only support SEAL and Nightstalker charitable interests but will give you the vaunted Iron Butt Association Certification. The ride is from Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, VA to Hunter Army Airfield, GA… and back… in 24 hours. The ride starts at 0630 on September 10, 2005, but you may start as late as 0800. You will have 24 hours to make it to HAA and back to receive credit and recognition as a finisher of this Saddle Sore 1000 event. The fee to participate is $45 which goes to your certification and is split between the charitable foundations who are being honored by this ride. This is all very official and odometer readings and gas receipts will be required for certification.

Riders are encouraged to have “sponsors” that will pledge a certain amount of money per mile ridden to donate to the Naval Special Warfare Foundation and the Nightstalker Association. Please RSVP for the ride by emailing SEAL160RIDE@COMCAST.NET