DANGEROUS SIGNS

As a result of our foreign policy (soft engagement and not from a position of power), or lack thereof, I believe the following events should be a cause for concern.

The North Koreans have become very belligerent to the point of armed intervention with the South Koreans. It is quite unimportant that the North Koreans were damaged physically more than the South Koreans, but, that they advanced to the point of military action.

The Iranian regime is now declaring that they will build more Nuclear enrichment sites rather than trying to diplomatically continue with their program while declaring their intentions to work with us. This amounts to a "double dog dare" knowing that they will not be stopped or suffer any real consequences.

Venezuela's leader Chavez is making bolder aggressive statements towards the US and attempting to form alliances that might prove to be very good backup to their position. They have attempted to bring power into the Americas from Europe and Asia thus threatening the force of the Monroe Doctrine, while the US seems to be sitting on its hands.

The Israelis appear to be losing patience with the US while not trying to tip their hands as to their future actions and the US is meekly urging (demanding) restraint without concurrent actions by the Arabs.

The US is trying to court the Communist Chinese in order to gain more monetary leverage while, in reality, making the US economic stability and the power of the dollar much weaker.

The Administration continues to try to figure out a course of action in Afghanistan while providing comfort to the ENEMY through vacillating on troop dispositions. We might as well provide an open letter to them declaring the time and place of new troop arrivals. This course of action will serve to kill many more troops than is necessary.

And now, probably through US behind the scenes activity, the Pakistan Government is close to collapse.

Finally, the US is working to completely bankrupt itself through the implementation of big expensive social money giveaways and following a policy shift that leads the Country into possible irreversible Socialism/Communism.

These things need to stop and this Country needs to change its ways, IMMEDIATELY!

WHY NOT?

The Administration has been very slow to commit more US troops to the Asian areas of Afghanistan which may be a good thing. I propose that we should follow the lead taken by the British and French in their prior colonial wars. The majority of soldiers that were employed by the British and French in times past were recruited from natives of the area or from some other sources than from Britain and France. The US even engaged in such practices in prior times by recruiting Filipino men for the US Navy and Chinese to fight in China under US Officers. The Bulk of British forces in India were either native Indians and in some instances Gurkhas. The French Foreign Legions used extensively in North African colonies were non French peoples from many parts of the world led by French Officers.

So, why not recruit Afghans, Pakistanis, Indians, and other asian people to populate the military efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan with direction and leadership by US Officers? Maybe we could even hire some South Korean, Republic of China (Taiwan), Japanese, and Vietnamese units as well.

Personally, I am tired of seeing Americans dying in an effort that has marginal gain for the US and little likelihood of military success. This approach would also allow for opportunities for more diverse training of our Officer corps.

FIRST ATTEMPT

What appears to be a first real attempt at censorship by the Administration has, thankfully, fallen apart. Ex Governor Palin is hosting a series of book signings and appearances to sell her new book. One appearance scheduled is FT Brag NC. At first, the Army command decided not to stop the visit but did decree that there could be no Press coverage, no Photo opportunities or even any comments by Mrs Palin. The Army contended that they were trying to avert any attempt at disparaging the President or providing a platform for political dissent.

Later on, a similar event planned for Ft Hood carried no such restrictions, which seemed rather strange for the Army to take such opposite positions on essentially the same event (show?). Buy week's end, the Army relented albeit slowly, and now, the Ft Bragg event will not have the previously planned restrictions.

It seems to me that this is a great deal of silliness until I realized that the Ft Bragg restrictions were, in reality, a first attempt at censorship based upon purely political grounds. It didn't work because of the nature of the effort and, maybe, also, the belief by even the major news organizations (besides Fox) that this action would have set a very dangerous precedent.

Hopefully, future efforts at censorship will also fail, and that this Country will wake up to the dangers to our freedoms being presented by the present Administration.

NEW YORK JUSTICE

Attorney General Holder declared that one major reason for selection of the Southern New York District to try the Terrorist group that is being brought for trial on US soil is that he is supremely confident in the ability of the combination of Judges, prosecutors, and juries in that district to render a fair trial and gain just convictions.

If these legal personalities and their attendant juries are so reliable, why is it that a known crime syndicate leader by the name of Junior Gotti cannot be found innocent or guilty? I have not read any of the transcripts of his three previous trials, or for that matter, the present one. But it seems strange that the prosecution first three attempts resulted in a "Hung" jury as is the present attempt.

If I were one of those terrorists going on trial, I could not have wished for a better place to be tried unless it were Iran, Palestine, or maybe the Hague. I wonder when these folks will be unconditionally released and sent back to their own little corner of the world where they can resume their prior jobs; namely killing Americans.

TV TRIALS

Drama portrayed on TV often seems to be misleading. The long running show Law and Order generally allows the prosecution to "win" its case while, at the same time, showing a rather disturbing aspect of US justice and rules.

There have been multiple instances in which a defendant has subverted the law because of very dubious technicalities; The search warrant was ruled invalid because it did not specify everything that was taken, the criminal was not "properly" told his rights even though the spirit and intent of the requirement had been observed, the police was shown to have prejudices that caused their actions to be questioned thus invalidating key evidence items, defense lawyers who are able to "pick" sympathetic juries or present non legal based defenses, and the list goes on.

Other examples of disconnected or questionable justice decisions stems from the portrayal of people who claim military or "terrorist" sympathies.

We in the US are soon to be faced with real life examples of admitted anti US individuals who, in some cases, have admitted (forget the so called "waterboarding" torture claims) to performing heinous crimes against the US and its people for the purpose of destroying the US being tried in Federal courts and not by Military tribunals. These people being tried have a very good chance of being found either "not guilty" or of being convicted of lesser charges. And, their expected and in my mind, deserved punishment could be much less than desired.

This result is, in my opinion, based solely on POLITICAL considerations and not on the need to deliver a strong rebuke to the enemies of the US. It is my opinion that our Government is wrong and needs to change. It should be noted that the problem , as I see it, is not related to any one political party, but towards the general inability of the government over the last 30 years from providing real protection for its citizens; Although, it seems to be more apparent with the present Administration than with previous ones.

GOVERNMENT HELP

The following was sent to me partly as a joke but, in reality, as a lesson in OUR stupidity.

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So They created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, Then hired two people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost."

So they laid off the night watchman!!

Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Carter Administration?

We've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember! It was very simple and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate. The Department of Energy was instituted on 8-04-1977.

TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL!

AND NOW, IT'S 2009 -- 32 YEARS LATER -- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS "NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR.

THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE!

good ole bureaucracy.

AND, NOW, WE ARE GOING TO TURN THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY OVER TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?

This insanity must stop.. NOW.

MOVIES

In honor of Armistice/Veterans Day I thought it would be nice to list some of my favorite war and war related movies. It could be argued that some of these are not strictly war related but really other themes. Most relate to US wars although some refer to other conflits, and in at least two cases, only to hypothetical conflicts.

12 0'clock High

All Quiet on the Western Front

Blood on the Sun

Caine Mutiny

Das Boot

Destination Tokyo

Farewell to Arms

Fighting 69th

Final Countdown

Flags of our Fathers

Flying Tigers

Four Feathers

From Here to Eternity

Gettysburg

Glory

Great Escape

Green Barets

Guadalcanal Diary

Gunga Din

Heartbreak Ridge

Hunt for Red October

In Harms Way

Last of the Mohicans

Letters from Iwo Jima

Lighthorsemen

MacArthur

Midway

Mr Roberts

On the Beach

Patriot

Patton

Run Silent Run Deep

Sand Pebbles

Sands of Iwo Jima

Saving Private Ryan

Seven days in May

Sgt York

They died with their Boots on

They Were Expendable

To Hell and Back

Tora Tora Tora

Up Periscope

Wake Island

Walk in the Sun

We Were Soldiers

Zulu

Comments or your list?

WHAT A DIFFERENCE

A tragic series of events occurred at our military base at Ft Hood, Texas. A, most likely, deranged individual was able to (allegedly) kill at least 13 people and wound another 27. Most of these people were Military members waiting to be deployed overseas. The suspected shooter, a medical officer is still alive and will probably recover.

Shortly after the evens occurred, ex President G. Bush, without news coverage or fanfare, showed up at Ft Hood to provide comfort and care for the fallen and wounded. He was able to stay for about 2 hours while insisting there should be no press coverage for his presence. Seems to me he really cared, and still does, for the military and their families.

Meanwhile, President Obama provided, as an afterthought for a well conducted Indian conference, acknowledgement that some military people were killed at Ft Hood by someone. He then visited the Military hospital where the Suspect had been last stationed. (?). I have heard that he plans on visiting at Ft Hood sooner or later when proper arrangements may be made. Which means he probably has to be assured that the teleprompter works OK, Security is sufficiently tight, and he can work around his many very important task assignments.

Anyone with any sense of propriety should be able to see the difference between the former President and the present office holder. One is a true leader while the other only considers himself first.

Do you wonder about Obama? I would definitely not wish to be placed in harm's way with the present administration in charge. Even LBJ was better than this!

MORE OF THE SAME

The President really must be having a difficult time making decisions. Maybe he should ignore everything that is going on around him and just go play a game of golf, or basketball.

He can't decide whether to send additional troops to the war zone, how to close the Guantanamo prison, whether to congratulate the Indian discussions or grieve for the dead at Ft Hood, decide what the proximate cause of the Ft Hood killing spree by the Muslim Officer may have been, how to get the so called health care legislation off dead center, how to get the Israelis to do his bidding, whether he ignored or followed the election results, and any other number of things that are not working.

I heard that he is quite good at basketball.

Maybe he needs the wise counsel of his pastor Rev Wright after all.