Friday, May 7, 2010

The Unity of the 'Collective'

Not that many years ago, 1996, 'Star Trek; First Contact' was released to the world and a hungering fan base. The story revolves around two distinct story lines; on the one hand the historically significant advent of 'time-warp travel' and the personal battle/vendetta of the captain of the new Enterprise-E to obliterate the cyborg 'culture' known as the Borg. Even if you have never been a fan of the series, there are several interesting concepts presented in the series and in this particular movie. One is our seeming eternal fascination with space exploration and the continual pursuit of proof of life on other worlds, the absence of God and the supremacy of man. If you think that last comment is over the top; revisit the series and Gene Roddenberry's bio.

The other story imbedded in the larger tale is that of the Captain, Jean-Luc Picard who is obviously tortured by an event in his past that has him obsessed with seeking out and destroying 'the Borg'. The Borg are a cybernetic organism that propagates by 'stealing' the bodies of humans and fusing them with mechanical/electronic components. Once this is accomplished, they become Borg - both singular and plural. This 'culture' is referred to as 'the Collective'. They see alike, feel alike, think alike, move to the same 'music', if you will and have one purpose and intent. It's all very George Bernard Shaw. Sound like anything else you may have heard about here on this dismal little rock?

We are faced with our own 'collective' here in this country. They have been taught the same mantra, fed the same revised history, nurtured in the same ideology, preened for 'government service', taught moral relativism, indoctrinated in gender/cross-gender norming, reducing education and excellence to the lowest common denominator, protecting the 'rights' of the indefensible, redistribution of wealth, elevating demonic forces including Islam and hating the military. The hope is that all in the collective will come to the true light of truth and take on all of this, but not all are ready to dive in that end of the pool yet. So you still see some who are 'believers' (and as of January 2009 become worshipers), taking jobs and putting on uniforms even in places you would not expect to find them.

Case in Point: This past Saturday, May 1st, started a chain of events that has led all except the most ardent 'worshipers' to what most of us knew to be true. The truth that all Islamic Jihadists have the same goal; world domination and a desire to export terrorist acts to the United States. The few simple facts that emerged about the event/non-event that took place in Times Square in the first 36 hours pointed to a Taliban blessed attack as surely as a compass needle points north. Law enforcement officials took a wait-and-see-where-the-evidence-leads approach that they should have even though they almost certainly knew the answer. Members of the administration stayed silent.

Eventually even members of the administration had to admit it looked like there might be 'an international connection'. As of this writing, all except dreamers, ardent apologists for Islam, left-wing ideologues and the residents of la-la land, know what we knew 5 days ago; Shahzad, who made a trip back to the motherland (Waziristan), had indeed met with elements of Terik-I-Taliban and returned with a fire in his belly to set a bomb in New York City. Of course the left-wing media found nothing but compassion for this would-be mass murderer who 'fell on tough times and couldn't realize the American dream'. It's too bad; if he'd waited a little longer, P. Obama would have dreamed up another program that would have helped him 'achieve' that goal.

So why is General Petraeus, today, announcing that Shahzad was a lone wolf? Probably for the same reasons he finds Scripture addresses on American Warrior's ACOG's offensive and why he deemed Israel a threat to the safety of American Servicemen, and why he felt compelled to jump into the fray of social-engineering our Armed Forces. A member of the collective has little choice but to do the will of the collective. The problem is, the collective assumes they are right not because they believe there is absolute right and wrong but just because they feel they are always right sans God and any troublesome admonishment from him in Scripture.

Is that what is expected of Generals in the United States Army now? Political commentary, social engineering, anti-Christian rhetoric hurled at a largely Christian armed force. How about re-visiting a strategy and it's ROE that gets your wards murdered, General? How about making uncomfortable recommendations to a CIC who clearly doesn't care about the cost of his desires for the Islamic nations of the world to American Warriors?

Where are the Chesty Pullers, Norman Swartzkoffs, John A. Lejeunes, Curtis Lemays and even Teddy Roosevelts when you need them? God help us!

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams

LEST WE FORGET;

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Answer to 'tjuan'; The time to Act is NOW!

I received a comment of frustration from a reader at the bottom of the last entry and I was compelled to give an answer that was a little more of a rant than normal. I feel the substance of the answer however is the core of this cause. As you read it, I hope you see that; and act. We have all been speaking to our 'sphere's of influence' and that must continue but a more direct hit in the way of calls, letters and e-mails to those in positions of influence is also vitally important. As follows:

tjuan;

As we all know, the government in place is self-serving and corrupt to the core. Any sitting President that would place the lives of Sovereign US Warriors as less valuable than foreign peoples is in violation of his oath. The Armed Forces of this nation are in fact an asset of this government which is supposed to be a servant of the King (the people). Those 'assets' and all elected members of the government swear oaths, as I did, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. How you translate that to mean to-be-the-saviors of the Islamic world is beyond a reasonable man's ability to answer. There is, of course, only one rational answer and that is that the President has chosen the Islamic peoples of the world over the Americans who voted for him - much less those who did not. How this is not seen as a clear violation of his oath can only be explained in one way.


How you get 536 members of a governing body (Congress), the entire Judicial Branch and all other members of State and Local governments to stay silent while the President of the United States wastes the lives of our Warriors for what is now obviously his perverted personal pursuit, can also only be explained in one way. Why the vast majority of the population of this country is not enraged and taken to the streets over this, again, can only be explained in one way. How a sign ' The Marine Corps is at War; America is at the Mall' placed in a hooch in Afghanistan does not cause the vast majority of this country to feel shame for, essentially, abandoning our Warriors to the madness of this administration, again, can only be explained in one way.

In the Bible it is referred to as Spiritual Blindness. This country stepped away from it's entire heritage - Judeo-Christian and Secular, a long time ago. Some say in the last 100 years. I believe it was heading there almost as soon as the final shots were fired during the revolution. History records it took 10 years to get the Constitution ratified and then only after the Bill of Rights was defined and agreed upon. A scant 40 years later, Thomas Jefferson was complaining to Justice Warren (in a letter) that the government was out of control. Of course the events we are witnessing right now are far beyond what the Founders could have imagined or would have stood for.


As late as this morning, on FOX News (which I don't waste much time on anymore), they were bemoaning the fact that the Pentagon, presumably under the direction of the administration, uninvited Franklin Graham to their prayer service because he prays as a Christian - and this while American Servicemen, in uniform, are pressed to help rebuild Mosques in Afghanistan; this while pressing United States Marine Corps Officers and their Senior Enlisted Advisors to don Afghan garb and to be paraded through the streets there?! And let's not forget the 'hand-holding' exercise as we were 'egressing' from Korengal.

I have made several attempts to get FOX to speak to me or for that matter anyone who has a focused understanding of the elements of this discussion; a discussion which must be had and which can-save-lives. To date....Silence. I will now try through this more public forum to reach out to them. I have been asked by many of you what can be done. I will tell you; call FOX News and ask them why they are not paying closer attention to this. This self described bastion of the 'Fair and Balanced' discourse has remained as silent as the dead in DC. In the meantime, our Warriors are paying a horrific price. Call FOX and call them now. If the dead in DC can't listen; maybe a shot from FOX can raise the dead.


jb

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Still Dancing; but Who is Leading?

On May 1st, Police observed a vehicle located on the streets in Times Square suspiciously flashing hazard lights. Upon closer inspection and some popping sounds they determined that it contained elements of what we now know was a bomb. After several frantic hours which included evacuating people from the vicinity, they defused the bomb and an investigation was underway.

On May 2nd, Al Jazeera reported that the Pakistani Taliban cell known as Tehrik-I-Taliban was claiming responsibility for the failed attempt in retaliation for the US killing 'Al Qaida' agents!? Later that day Police said it was unlikely that they had anything to do with it. No reason for this suspicion was given.

On May 3rd, Stratfor reported that the Washington Post had reported that 'US Officials' believed the attempted bombing increasingly looked to have international ties. Later that day smaller elements of the investigation and the origination of the car were reported. Late in the day and reported by Stratfor and other Media outlets, the Police announced they had arrested a man in connection with the failed bombing attempt. It turns out he is from Pakistan, a naturalized US citizen who had returned to Pakistan in July of 2009 and had spent 'several months there'.

On this same day, May 3rd, Stratfor reported that Azam Tariq, spokesman for Tehrik-I-Taliban, said they did not release the video and had no information about it. Curious he didn't step away from any claim of involvement in the act itself...

Curiously; on this same day, May 3rd, Stratfor reported that Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud threatened to retaliate against the United States within a month for the killing of Islamist militant leaders.

On May 4th, the suspected bomber, Faisal Shahzad, implicates himself by saying 'he acted alone'. Officials say the investigation is still ongoing and let's not forget Taqiyya.

Of course, there is a point to this. For the last nearly two years we have been told that the Taliban were not Afghan but an outside element that the Afghan people wanted removed from their homeland as much as we wanted to marginalize them. Many of us have contended that they were in fact as much an Afghan phenomenon as anything else and that the mere presence of the Durand line did nothing to lessen that fact. Almost anyone with any historical or first-hand knowledge of that area will tell you so. So the fact that the Taliban can be vaguely divided into Afghan and Pakistani 'cells' does little to bolster the claim that the Taliban is a classically defined 'Insurgent' presence in Afghanistan.

In addition; arguments have been floated that say that the Taliban does not pose the same threat to the US as Al Qaida because they do not have an international focus..... This argument has always been wrong, generally, and because, generally, Islam's ultimate goal is to force world submission to Allah. (By the way; again, Allah is not the God of the Bible). So making the argument that an armed fundamentalist Islamic organization has no interest in the furtherance of this Islamic goal is preposterous.

So let's sum this up:

1. We have a naturalized US citizen from Pakistan who clearly is a Jihadist who spends a significant amount of time back home before returning to his 'chosen' home and then assembles and attempts to detonate a bomb.

2. We have a convoluted series of statements that seem to be pointing to involvement by a Taliban cell in Pakistan - where this Jihadist is from.

3. We have US and NYPD officials not wanting to jump to any conclusions even as the evidence is mounting, that there is a Taliban connection.

4. There is a knee-jerk reaction by the Pakistani Government that has been widely reported to have treacherous fellows in their midst who are 'sensitive' to Taliban doctrine. By the way, the relationship between Pakistan and the US is tenuous at best.

5. We also have continuous claims that the Taliban and Al Qaida not only have different goals but are often at odds even though we have statements from one of the leaders, Mehsud (whom we thought we had killed in a UAV strike), claiming to be prepping a strike against the US for killing 'Islamist Military Leaders'!?

Is anyone starting to question where this is going? What possible motivations could there be for not wanting to 'call a spade, a spade'? At what point do we look at someone like Hassan and say the man is in fact a Jihadist who defiled his oath as an Officer in the Army in lieu of following the warped ideology of his religion? MJ posed a great question to FOX news: quoting General Casey; 'if we lose diversity because the Ft. Hood shooter is a Muslim, it is a greater tragedy than the loss of life.' ; Why are we still referring to him as Major? Why hasn't General Casey been publicly castigated for equating the rights of a suspected mass murderer with those of whom he butchered? (Hey MJ; I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an answer).

When do we step out of the COIN paradigm and take a broader look at the problem; the real problem? When are the strategic ideologues going to put away their holy power point presentations, DOD jargon and go back to the one place that will give them the perspective they need; history and specifically a history as defined by the Islamic Scholars?

Hey MJ; I'm not holding my breath either.

Any questions?

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Price of Arrogance: 2nd MEB honors it's Dead

I just returned, with my family, from the Second MEB's Memorial service honoring those who fell in the past year which included my Son. As is always the case; the United States Marine Corps showed incredible compassion, grace and heart. Truly, only Warriors can feel that level of compassion on such a grand scale because only Warriors put so much on the line for their Oath and for their Brothers. Theirs is not a life of luxury, self-ingratiation, seduction of power or arrogance of spirit. Theirs is a spartan existence and a life bearing the great cost of loss and personal suffering. They pay that others might live.

Those 90 men honored on Friday, served with dignity and personal honor. They did not go to Afghanistan to hold a sword at the throats of the people and force convert them to another religion. They did not go there to tell them of Peter's White Sheet Vision (Acts 10:9-19) and to force Muslims to eat pork. They went in obedience to the calling placed on their lives and in obedience to orders from above. The manner in which they were used and the strategy and ROE under which they performed is what is in question. I have never shied away from what I believe to be the underlying reasons for what I feel is a failed strategy and you can read my thoughts throughout the history of this blog. If you have misunderstood my intent or my heart in this matter, read, again, the opening comments that are listed at the top of the blog for all to see. All else in this country at this point in time pales in contrast and in level of importance.

We have men and women in harm's way and our Politicians and the vast majority of the Media apparently do not care and know nothing about the elements of this age long battle. These are the same people who have ascribed to the current CIC's idea that only people who do not go to college and are therefore unworthy, join the Service. A sign of the times.

I am frequently questioned about my stand on the value of human life. These questions are born out of some interesting sense of moral indignation by the inquisitor who has not apparently studied both sides of the question, ever served, ever had anyone in harm's way nor has any other 'horse in the race'. Their sense of fair play and right and wrong is exclusively individual and without any of that troublesome prompting from God; 'But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.' 1 Cor 2:14.

I am a Christian and have never nor will ever apologize for that. I will always feel compelled to answer questions when pressured by a knee-jerk response to an apparently 'Biblical Truth' when it is appropriate and this is one of those times. Any suggestion that God does not care for or hold Warriors in high esteem; doesn't know the Bible. Anyone who thinks that government 'Service' is unbiblical, has never read Romans 13. Anyone who uses a biblical expression or biblical commentary to justify skewing a heart-felt concern for one's country and Warriors, first and above that of others in the world, probably needs to re-think who he truly is. As follows:

ragnhild71 said...

Hold on, is this site actually claiming that American lives are more worth others? So the rest of the world is populated by what? How ignorant of me to believe that all Human Beings were created equal...

Ragnhild71;

Actually I hope you aren't suggesting I should hold American Warriors lives in lower esteem than anyone else in the world because that is what is presently happening. If you are not an American, I do not expect you to hold American Warriors lives even equal to that of anyone else; the world has made that clear but as an American Warrior, an American citizen and one who has sworn the Oath, I can promise you that for me, all life on the earth comes in second to our Warriors. I recognize that 'all men are created equal' and can show you many places in the Bible where God says as much; but he also says that they are equal to choose while here on earth. I find it curious that those who do not believe in the truth of the Bible are always ready to quote it. The Bible is clear that even the Devil and his Demons know the Bible (God's word) and they 'tremble', (James 2:19). Most of the people who use the Bible against our arguments use it in this perverse way. You use it, but don't believe it and refuse to accept the God who 'wrote it'. Then you are prepared to see our Warriors murdered by those whose lives you find 'equal' to our Warriors, using the Bible or Biblical commentary to make your case; curious.

The standard you are demanding by your comment is one way; You want to spare the lives of those whose religion requires murder but are incensed that I would say that our Warriors lives are more valuable than those murderers and those who support them financially, in spirit, through cowardice, intrigue, treachery and; oh yes adherence to taqiyya.

These have used their religion, the words of the 'Prophet', the Koran and the consensus of the Islamic Scholars, to propagate by killing those who don't agree, after offering them an opportunity to submit to Allah and the Prophet, of course. As Americans, we believe in live and let live. If others see it differently, they will find that the majority of us as Americans, won't comply. If you are asking me if we as Americans have an innate responsibility to die for other peoples of the world - both those who like us and those who would rather see us dead, the answer is no. If you are asking me, if given the option I would rather someone else die instead of our Warriors, the answer is decidedly, yes. I am not looking for any death; this was not a war of our choosing but is just one more battle in a war that is 1400 years long. Stop engaging in Jihad, stop teaching Allah prefers death for the infidel and stop sending your children to commit suicide/murder and this conversation will be over.

If the killing is to stop, those who perpetrated the first blow will have to agree to stop as well as those who give them aid, comfort and who agree with them ideologically. Short of that, this war will continue for another 1400 years and yes, I then choose the lives of my fellow Warriors and Countrymen above all on the earth - equal or otherwise.

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard