So many of you have been so kind throughout all of this. When the AP release hit the net today I realized that most everyone who has been tracking the progress of this effort have never seen the original letter I wrote to our delegation in DC. The issue was important then and and even more so today. Since then, dozens on men have died staying in compliance with the current COIN strategy and its ROE; including my Son.
We have continued this fight because there are still too many Marines and Soldiers on the ground over there who will continue to die because of these Rules of Engagement. President Obama intends to release his decision, by the end of this week, on what the strategy should be as we go forward with the operation in Afghanistan and he is likely to accept much of what General McChrystal has recommended. The one caveat in the Stratfor/AP report of this announcement today was that he intends to lean even more heavily on the side of the civilian population. This means, most certainly, heavier American casualties.
The original letter:
Congressman Mike Michaud 7/09/2009 08:01
1724 Longworth HOBWashington, DC 20515-1902
Dear Sir;
I am writing to you today as an American citizen, 26 year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, committed Christian, Husband, Father of two and a businessman. I am also writing to you as the Father of a Marine who is, as all of his brothers in arms are, in harms way. That by itself is not a cause for concern for me because as a Warrior I understand two things:(1) it is the very nature of the calling to which we have been called that we will be thrust into dangerous, even life threatening situations to fight the enemies of our country and (2) that there could not possibly be a safer place to be than in the company of fellow Marines. In any case, that is the nature of the business and those who serve in this capacity have long since dealt with the realities of life in uniform.
There are, however, certain expectations, an unspoken trust within the ranks of those of us who serve and have served in this capacity. One of those is that we have a belief that as Americans, our leadership will not frivolously spend our blood on unworthy pursuit. To those of us who serve, let me be very clear to those of you who hold our lives in your hands; this means that the reason we may die can ultimately be defined as protecting homeland, family and fellow American lives (spelled US citizens). We also assume we will not be used as pawns in some personal vendetta or worse some career building scheme; that we will not be asked to spill our blood in a foreign land to defend the indefensible. We expect we will be able to do that for which we were trained; export violence with ferocity and drive our enemies to their knees with the ultimate goal of ending the conflict by forcing them to do our will. Such are the dreams and aspirations of the Warrior. Men like this seek to serve side by side with like-minded men prepared to meet their destiny on the field of battle; living a life of honor while testing personal courage in the forge of combat. Our nations Warriors have no other expectations, no visions of grandeur, no careers to bolster, no kingdoms to lord over, no sovereignty to subvert. These men just seek to serve their country.
Now that you have ever so basic an understanding of the intrinsic nature of the Warrior; I hope to encourage you to show them at least the dignity of thoughtful and painstaking decision-making when considering when and where to thrust them into the fires of hell. My demand is that you emphatically understand that this decision will have eternal consequences for the men involved and their families. I also expect this decision to be for the simple reason of defense of country and countrymen (again spelled United States Citizens).
If any part of you still understands that you were sent to Washington DC for the sole purpose of defending these shores and to defend the ‘life, liberty and pursuit of happiness’ of the citizens of this nation; and if you still believe you are first a servant of all, then you yet may possess the ability to understand the immorality of what I am about to share with you and the necessity to change this policy NOW.
President Obama has seen fit to replace the sitting ISAF commander with a General McChrystal (see Bio at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal). Suffice it to say that Gen McChrystal’s understanding of the Warrior ethos is somewhat askew from the mainstream. Also let us cut to the chase and identify him more as a political mouthpiece than a field commander. Add to this the dubious addition of General James L. Jones (see bio at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Jones), who unlike McChrystal has actual combat experience but still shares the same ultimate goals and one world vision as both McChrystal and Obama. What you have here is an unholy trinity injecting their shared philosophy of ‘spare the civilians at all cost’ – even though those civilians are not US citizens and are in fact complicit in their own misfortune. The new ROE presented by McChrystal and under which operation Khanjar was mounted is nothing less than disgraceful, immoral and fatal for our Marines, Sailors and Soldiers on the ground. The Marines and Soldiers that are ‘holding’ territories of dubious worth like Now Zad and Golestan without reinforcement, denial of fire-support and refusal to allow them to hunt and kill the very enemy we are there to confront are nothing more than sitting ducks. Denying them even the ability to fight, which is their only purpose for existing, to defend themselves in a foreign land that sees them first as agents of the devil is detestable to the secular world and immoral to the rest of us. And for those of us with ‘vested interests’ thrust into that foreign land; it angers us. The links I have provided will give you some indication of the insanity of the current situation and the suicidal position this administration has placed these Warriors in. I admonish this administration and all those currently in public office whom we have entrusted with our security, well-being and the very lives and well-being of the best of us, our Warriors to start acting like you actually care or even understand the consequences of ludicrous decisions like this one. I then hold you responsible to actively seek to change this immoral policy to one that allows our Warriors the opportunity to do what they were trained to do; destroy our enemies and protect our citizenry.
http://www.militarytimes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1578049
http://www.captainsjournal.com/2009/07/07/no-excuse-marines-losing-legs-in-now-zad/
http://www.captainsjournal.com/2009/07/03/afghanistan-the-wtf-war/
http://www.captainsjournal.com/2009/07/05/calling-on-national-security-advisor-james-l-jones-to-resign/
To those who would suggest that COIN (counter insurgency) is complicated I say hog-wash. This has become the mantra of the one-world ideologues. This has become complicated because leadership has lost its way. It is not the responsibility of the leaders (servants) of this country to re-build a country that has not been destroyed by us nor does the leadership of this country have any intrinsic right to spill the blood of this country’s finest for this cause. I’ll lay it out for you; bad guys entered this country, unannounced and unwelcome and killed Americans on American soil. Bad guys continue to harass and threaten to kill Americans here at home and abroad. Bad guys continue to train in foreign lands and continue to plan to carry out these plans against sovereign American citizens. They have no rights or guarantee of protection under the Constitution of the United States because they are not United States citizens. They are not protected by the Geneva Convention because they don’t fight under any Nation’s Flag. We however, have the right – and responsibility, with historical and Biblical precedent to export violence to crush these Bad guys, wherever they may live and in whatever lair they may hide – relentlessly! If the civilian populations in those areas lack the intestinal fortitude to expel them from their midst or they quietly support them or they actively support them; they are not innocent and may well suffer ill consequences for their cowardice and their complicities.
For those of us who have served in uniform and for those of us who have family forced to serve under these immoral conditions the time to quietly observe and pray has ended. There is a new activist emerging; not like the cannabis induced flailing of the sixties and seventies but one with the discipline, training and tenacity of a Warrior. Those of us who have a history in this Warrior culture and a vested interest on the battlefield will be a lot more vocal from this point on. Those in this culture who do not yet know about this immoral ROE change will soon all know as well as the families of those who are imperiled by it. Those who have actively supported this policy of immorality or are not engaged enough to know of it; they will be re-introduced to your constituencies for their failings. Public service is precisely what it portends to be; service. If there are those among your number who have failed to remember that I can promise you we will make that known within our spheres of influence.
This letter is making its way through the halls of every national news agency as well as the local ones in Maine, as you read this. I have contacted your office by phone, e-mail and now letter to give you a chance to get out in front of it. Consider this a wake-up call.
John J. Bernard
1stSgt USMC ret
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Another Dandy Week in Barracks ‘Excellent Adventure’
Well it was another fine week in the ‘Excellent Adventures’ of American leadership. There were so many new reports and revelations that it was hard to know where to begin so let’s begin by forming a list: (most of the links will have to be copied and pasted in the search window)
1. MJG was kind enough to send me this gem; we now know that funds have been made available and were distributed to Mullahs and Mosques for the improvement of existing Mosques and the building of new ones. There was no hint in the story that these were for war reparations and if they were; it would be too soon for that anyway. http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2004/02/the-us-government-builds-mosques-and-madrassahs.
2. The Taliban is declaring victory due to our closing the outpost in Nuristan that was attacked on October 4th. The outpost has been slated for abandonment for quite a while. 9 Soldiers were killed, several ANA killed and dozens (missing?). There are conflicting stories about how many Taliban were killed. http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/taliban-claim-to-raise-a-flag-over-nuristan/
3. Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe reports that Laith al-Khazali a leader of Asa’ib al-Haq (Iranian backed) was released by the United States in an ongoing effort to achieve reconciliation with… I’m not sure whom, in Iraq. It is worthy to note that he is responsible for the deaths of at least 5 American Soldiers. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/08/a_casualty_of_callousness/#end
4. The coveted Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to President Barrack Obama; praise his name! http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/29421
The story of the United States Mosque building efforts is not brand new. This has been going on for a long time and is probably couched in the language of war reparations. The problem is; the war is not over and, the enemy has been using these mosques, regularly, from which to launch attacks on our Warriors. I won't go into the apparent conflict with the 1st amendment of the US Constitution here although there is much to talk about. The more glaring problem is that we are building hardened bulwarks from which the enemy can launch attacks on our troops. Have we lost all understanding of how to wage war? You don't build emplacements for the enemy, you destroy everything they can use and deny them ground. Want an example? Look at Berlin circa 1944-45 or the waning months of our battle with Japan. By the way; Both Germany and Japan are now leading economic and manufacturing powers in the world. I don't think we are likely to see that in Afghanistan anywhere in their future - with or without their US built Mosques.
The Taliban declared victory over the 'infidel' in Nuristan after assaulting two American manned outposts there last week. The two outposts were slated to be closed down as part of Gen McChrystal's new 'protect the populace at all costs' strategy which includes pulling back from territories of marginal value (marginal value as defined by population density). Of course our US leadership told the whole world, including the Taliban, what our plan was and the Taliban exploited that piece of intelligence and planned and executed an attack on those outposts (from a Mosque) and eight American Soldiers were killed in the ensuing battle. Closing these outposts does not mean we are abandoning the province or the region. The fact that closing the outposts had been in the works for quite some time negates any claim to victory especially in light of the fact the Taliban paid a high price (some reports say 100 Taliban dead) and in the end, gained zero property. Never-the-less a question should be asked; why is it Lcpl Schmuckatelli can't tell Mom and Dad back home where he is or what he is doing but the highest ranking officers in the US military can share sensitive information with the enemy - like when we are going to shut down an outpost? I don't suppose it crossed their minds that they were party to those US deaths?
We, as a nation, have allowed a sickness to creep in called a lie. This lie has been propagated in the school systems through the use of revised history. The lie is pervasive and essentially paints the United States and its citizenry as incredibly evil people who have imposed their evil on the innocent peoples of other nations. The result of decades of this kind of indoctrination is self-loathing. It is not unusual for someone to seek redemption once they discover their sin, and elements within the United States have spent their lives trying to ‘make up’ for the sins of the past. This week’s example of this was the release of Laith al-Khazali in Iraq. He is not a soldier, nor an elected representative of his people. He does not expound on the virtue of peace nor has he developed a vaccine for cancer. He is a murderer. He listened to and believed a lie and that lie grew into something insidious and he acted on it and because of that at least 5 American Soldiers did not return home to their families. In an 'act of reconciliation', the upper echelon of our own military released him back to his family. Match that to the plight of Sgt Larry Hutchins who kidnapped an Iraqi civilian (he suspected of aiding the insurgency in his area of operations) and subsequently shot him in the head. He is spending 15 years in prison for murder. The parole board recommended leniency and a reduction of sentence but earlier this year, Donald Winter – a man with ZERO military experience and a member of the Bush administration and now the Obama – denied the recommendation. Reconciliation you say?
The Coup de Gras was the announcement out of Norway that President Obama was being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Of course, everyone, including the President himself is questioning why he was chosen. I don't expect him to turn down the honor however. In fact this is just more justification that he is 'all that' and more. A friend of mine had called and lamented this fact within hours of having heard but, I told him, he should be encouraged by the announcement. The fact is that the committee has been awarding individuals of dubious accomplishment for years and it has become clear, from the 'progressive mindset' segment of society. This is just the latest in a list of ludicrous selectees right behind Al Gore, Jimmy Carter and Yasser Arafat, et al. Al Gore of 'the sun is falling' fame and Jimmy Carter of 'let's wring our hands and beg the Iranians for forgiveness' fame (1979).
I am going to ask those of you and your friends, who voted for this current administration, how do you like them now? Not only did you vote for someone with NO resume; you did it with religious zeal; and don't fool yourselves, you displayed classic worship. This man, Barrack Obama, was declared to be 'our Savior' by none other than the Reverend Al Sharpton himself. Fringe you say? How about the refrains from those young angelic voices in the public schools that sang (and still do) praises to 'his majesty'? Remember the latest refrain; 'Barrack..Hussein..Obama. Mmm, Mmm, Mmm'. It is time for you or your relatives and friends to wake up to your sin. You voted for a man who received and did not deny the devotion reserved for a deity. There were tears of joy flowing at the inauguration and now, there are tears flowing at the gravesides of men and women of the United States Armed Forces who are being slaughtered by our own government's complicity in the war plans of our enemy; Barrack Obama's hand selected appointees.
How long can a Nation last whose leadership values the lives of the enemy and foreign civilians above that of its own military? To those of you who have called, e-mailed, and blogged your concerns about a loved one in the military looking for information or hope, I say this; be very, very, afraid. Then you need to get up, write letters, make calls, blog, e-mail, and do a song and dance on the street corners to get the word out that this current strategy is wrong. You need to reflect on what God you believe in and I pray it is the one true God. Then you need to educate yourselves on the true nature of this current enemy and the insidiousness of his religious ideology and understand that any strategy that does not include chasing him and killing him with ferocity, is doomed to fail, politically. You also need to take a stand are you a citizen of the United States of America; or a world citizen? It is time to stand up and be counted.
Until next time; this is John Bernard reporting from the top of the country while we continue to chronicle the amazing exploits of “Barack, Hussein, Obama. Mmmm, Mmm, Mmm” and company.
Semper Fidelis;
John Bernard
1. MJG was kind enough to send me this gem; we now know that funds have been made available and were distributed to Mullahs and Mosques for the improvement of existing Mosques and the building of new ones. There was no hint in the story that these were for war reparations and if they were; it would be too soon for that anyway. http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2004/02/the-us-government-builds-mosques-and-madrassahs.
2. The Taliban is declaring victory due to our closing the outpost in Nuristan that was attacked on October 4th. The outpost has been slated for abandonment for quite a while. 9 Soldiers were killed, several ANA killed and dozens (missing?). There are conflicting stories about how many Taliban were killed. http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/taliban-claim-to-raise-a-flag-over-nuristan/
3. Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe reports that Laith al-Khazali a leader of Asa’ib al-Haq (Iranian backed) was released by the United States in an ongoing effort to achieve reconciliation with… I’m not sure whom, in Iraq. It is worthy to note that he is responsible for the deaths of at least 5 American Soldiers. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/08/a_casualty_of_callousness/#end
4. The coveted Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to President Barrack Obama; praise his name! http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/29421
The story of the United States Mosque building efforts is not brand new. This has been going on for a long time and is probably couched in the language of war reparations. The problem is; the war is not over and, the enemy has been using these mosques, regularly, from which to launch attacks on our Warriors. I won't go into the apparent conflict with the 1st amendment of the US Constitution here although there is much to talk about. The more glaring problem is that we are building hardened bulwarks from which the enemy can launch attacks on our troops. Have we lost all understanding of how to wage war? You don't build emplacements for the enemy, you destroy everything they can use and deny them ground. Want an example? Look at Berlin circa 1944-45 or the waning months of our battle with Japan. By the way; Both Germany and Japan are now leading economic and manufacturing powers in the world. I don't think we are likely to see that in Afghanistan anywhere in their future - with or without their US built Mosques.
The Taliban declared victory over the 'infidel' in Nuristan after assaulting two American manned outposts there last week. The two outposts were slated to be closed down as part of Gen McChrystal's new 'protect the populace at all costs' strategy which includes pulling back from territories of marginal value (marginal value as defined by population density). Of course our US leadership told the whole world, including the Taliban, what our plan was and the Taliban exploited that piece of intelligence and planned and executed an attack on those outposts (from a Mosque) and eight American Soldiers were killed in the ensuing battle. Closing these outposts does not mean we are abandoning the province or the region. The fact that closing the outposts had been in the works for quite some time negates any claim to victory especially in light of the fact the Taliban paid a high price (some reports say 100 Taliban dead) and in the end, gained zero property. Never-the-less a question should be asked; why is it Lcpl Schmuckatelli can't tell Mom and Dad back home where he is or what he is doing but the highest ranking officers in the US military can share sensitive information with the enemy - like when we are going to shut down an outpost? I don't suppose it crossed their minds that they were party to those US deaths?
We, as a nation, have allowed a sickness to creep in called a lie. This lie has been propagated in the school systems through the use of revised history. The lie is pervasive and essentially paints the United States and its citizenry as incredibly evil people who have imposed their evil on the innocent peoples of other nations. The result of decades of this kind of indoctrination is self-loathing. It is not unusual for someone to seek redemption once they discover their sin, and elements within the United States have spent their lives trying to ‘make up’ for the sins of the past. This week’s example of this was the release of Laith al-Khazali in Iraq. He is not a soldier, nor an elected representative of his people. He does not expound on the virtue of peace nor has he developed a vaccine for cancer. He is a murderer. He listened to and believed a lie and that lie grew into something insidious and he acted on it and because of that at least 5 American Soldiers did not return home to their families. In an 'act of reconciliation', the upper echelon of our own military released him back to his family. Match that to the plight of Sgt Larry Hutchins who kidnapped an Iraqi civilian (he suspected of aiding the insurgency in his area of operations) and subsequently shot him in the head. He is spending 15 years in prison for murder. The parole board recommended leniency and a reduction of sentence but earlier this year, Donald Winter – a man with ZERO military experience and a member of the Bush administration and now the Obama – denied the recommendation. Reconciliation you say?
The Coup de Gras was the announcement out of Norway that President Obama was being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Of course, everyone, including the President himself is questioning why he was chosen. I don't expect him to turn down the honor however. In fact this is just more justification that he is 'all that' and more. A friend of mine had called and lamented this fact within hours of having heard but, I told him, he should be encouraged by the announcement. The fact is that the committee has been awarding individuals of dubious accomplishment for years and it has become clear, from the 'progressive mindset' segment of society. This is just the latest in a list of ludicrous selectees right behind Al Gore, Jimmy Carter and Yasser Arafat, et al. Al Gore of 'the sun is falling' fame and Jimmy Carter of 'let's wring our hands and beg the Iranians for forgiveness' fame (1979).
I am going to ask those of you and your friends, who voted for this current administration, how do you like them now? Not only did you vote for someone with NO resume; you did it with religious zeal; and don't fool yourselves, you displayed classic worship. This man, Barrack Obama, was declared to be 'our Savior' by none other than the Reverend Al Sharpton himself. Fringe you say? How about the refrains from those young angelic voices in the public schools that sang (and still do) praises to 'his majesty'? Remember the latest refrain; 'Barrack..Hussein..Obama. Mmm, Mmm, Mmm'. It is time for you or your relatives and friends to wake up to your sin. You voted for a man who received and did not deny the devotion reserved for a deity. There were tears of joy flowing at the inauguration and now, there are tears flowing at the gravesides of men and women of the United States Armed Forces who are being slaughtered by our own government's complicity in the war plans of our enemy; Barrack Obama's hand selected appointees.
How long can a Nation last whose leadership values the lives of the enemy and foreign civilians above that of its own military? To those of you who have called, e-mailed, and blogged your concerns about a loved one in the military looking for information or hope, I say this; be very, very, afraid. Then you need to get up, write letters, make calls, blog, e-mail, and do a song and dance on the street corners to get the word out that this current strategy is wrong. You need to reflect on what God you believe in and I pray it is the one true God. Then you need to educate yourselves on the true nature of this current enemy and the insidiousness of his religious ideology and understand that any strategy that does not include chasing him and killing him with ferocity, is doomed to fail, politically. You also need to take a stand are you a citizen of the United States of America; or a world citizen? It is time to stand up and be counted.
Until next time; this is John Bernard reporting from the top of the country while we continue to chronicle the amazing exploits of “Barack, Hussein, Obama. Mmmm, Mmm, Mmm” and company.
Semper Fidelis;
John Bernard
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