For Memorial Day 2019

[With thanks to Warren, who called my attention to the cited essay below]

[about "Flags In" at Arlington National Cemetery]

Some appropriate reading for Memorial Day and worth pondering....

From Sacred Duty: A Soldier’s Tour at Arlington National Cemetery by Tom Cotton, published in Hillsdale College's Imprimis (April/May, 2019):

Every headstone at Arlington tells a story. These are tales of heroes, I thought, as I placed the toe of my combat boot against the white marble. I pulled a miniature American flag out of my assault pack and pushed it three inches into the ground at my heel. I stepped aside to inspect it, making sure it met the standard that we had briefed to our troops: “vertical and perpendicular to the headstone.” Satisfied, I moved to the next headstone to keep up with my soldiers. Having started this row, I had to complete it. One soldier per row was the rule; otherwise, different boot sizes might disrupt the perfect symmetry of the headstones and flags. I planted flag after flag, as did the soldiers on the rows around me.

Bending over to plant the flags brought me eye-level with the lettering on those marble stones. The stories continued with each one. Distinguished Service Cross. Silver Star. Bronze Star. Purple Heart. America’s wars marched by. Iraq. Afghanistan. Vietnam. Korea. World War II. World War I. Some soldiers died in very old age; others were teenagers. Crosses, Stars of David, Crescents and Stars. Every religion, every race, every age, every region of America is represented in these fields of stone.

I came upon the gravesite of a Medal of Honor recipient. I paused, came to attention, and saluted. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest decoration for battlefield valor. By military custom, all soldiers salute Medal of Honor recipients irrespective of their rank, in life and in death. We had reminded our soldiers of this courtesy; hundreds of grave sites would receive salutes that afternoon. I planted this hero’s flag and kept moving.

On some headstones sat a small memento: a rank or unit patch, a military coin, a seashell, sometimes just a penny or a rock. Each was a sign that someone—maybe family or friends, or perhaps a battle buddy who lived because of his friend’s ultimate sacrifice—had visited, honored, and mourned. For those of us who had been downrange, the sight was equally comforting and jarring—a sign that we would be remembered in death, but also a reminder of just how close some of us had come to resting here ourselves. We left those mementos undisturbed.

After a while, my hand began to hurt from pushing on the pointed, gold tips of the flags. There had been no rain that week, so the ground was hard. I asked my soldiers how they were moving so fast and seemingly pain-free. They asked if I was using a bottle cap, and I said no. Several shook their heads in disbelief; forgetting a bottle cap was apparently a mistake on par with forgetting one’s rifle or night-vision goggles on patrol in Iraq. Those kinds of little tricks and techniques were not briefed in the day’s written orders, but rather got passed down from seasoned soldiers. These details often make the difference between mission success or failure in the Army, whether in combat or stateside. After some good-natured ribbing at my expense, a young private squared me away with a spare cap.

We finished up our last section and got word over the radio to go place flags in the Columbarium, where open-air buildings contain thousands of urns. Walking down Arlington’s leafy avenues, we passed Section 60, where soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were laid to rest if their families chose Arlington as their eternal home. Unlike in the sections we had just completed, several visitors and mourners were present. Some had settled in for a while on blankets or lawn chairs. Others walked among the headstones. Even from a respectful distance, we could see the sense of loss and grief on their faces.

Once we finished in the Columbarium, “mission complete” came over the radio and we began the long walk up Arlington’s hills and back to Fort Myer. In just a few hours, we had placed a flag at every grave site in this sacred ground, more than two hundred thousand of them. From President John F. Kennedy to the Unknown Soldiers to the youngest privates from our oldest wars, every hero of Arlington had a few moments that day with a soldier who, in this simple act of remembrance, delivered a powerful message to the dead and the living alike: you are not forgotten.

*****************************************************************************

The Thursday before Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery is known as “Flags In.” The soldiers who place the flags belong to the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment, better known as The Old Guard. My turn at Flags In came in 2007, when I served with The Old Guard between my tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Old Guard is literally the old guard, the oldest active-duty infantry regiment in the Army, dating back to 1784, three years older even than our Constitution....

[...]

No one summed up better what The Old Guard of Arlington means for our nation than Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey. He shared a story with me about taking a foreign military leader through Arlington to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Sergeant Major Dailey said, “I was explaining what The Old Guard does and he was looking out the window at all those headstones. After a long pause, still looking at the headstones, he said, ‘Now I know why your soldiers fight so hard. You take better care of your dead than we do our living.’”

Read the entire essay HERE.

Memorial Day is not really about store sales and cookouts. 

Rather, Memorial Day is a solemn commemoration of our fallen military across the centuries. 

Pause, remember, reflect.

Outrage!

See General Dempsey Fires on Own Troops at Fix Bayonets!, Mustang's site. It is unconscionable and inconceivable that such a travesty has occurred!

The essence of winning a war does not involve being careful not to offend the enemy.

Will Romney take Obama to task on this matter during one of the upcoming debates?

The Double-edged Sword

We are engaged in "Saigon in slow motion," as Tammy Swofford opined in Pakistan's Daily Times on August 18, 2012, well before the filmifada.

A taste of the essay:

It is pleasant to consider that the Pentagon remembers the lessons of the past, those learned in Vietnam. It is where the US military first put a ‘win hearts and minds’ paradigm into play. Vietnam was the initial military laboratory for a two-pronged foreign engagement for a regional conflict that sought to beat back communism whilst also making our policies palatable within a distinct cultural setting.

Military planners have also sought the same in Afghanistan...

[...]

As we wind down in Afghanistan, there will not be a defining ‘win’, rather a lot of spin. This may not be Saigon. But it is Saigon in slow motion for the families receiving back their dead, killed in such manner as meted out in Afghanistan.

Read Tammy Swofford's entire essay HERE. Worth your time.

Consider the following video, which aired on September 23, 2012 (Apologies for the commercial that may appear at the beginning):

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

[source]Has American involvement in Islamic countries become the double-edged sword? Stay, we lose? Leave, we lose?

Forcing America Into Dhimmitude

(With thanks to Mustang, who emailed me the links in this post)

Various Muslim organizations, several of which are arms of the Muslim Brotherhood or like groups, sent a letter dated October 19, 2011, to several high-ranking federal officials.

According to Thomas More Law Center, in an entry entitled "Muslim Letter that Prompted the Pentagon to Purge Military Instruction 'Offensive to Islam,'" dated September 20, 2012:

A letter dated October 19, 2011 signed by 57 Muslim organizations, was sent to the White House with copies to other federal officials responsible for national security, including Secretary of the Department of Defense, Leon Panetta. The letter demanded that all training materials that they judge to be offensive to Islam be “purged” and instructors “are effectively disciplined.”

[...]

Following that letter, in April 2012, Army Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Matthew Dooley, a highly decorated combat veteran, was publically condemned by General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and relieved of his teaching assignment at the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC). The reason: the negative way Islam was portrayed in his elective course entitled, Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism.

On May 10, 2012, during a Pentagon press conference with Defense Secretary Panetta seated next to him, General Martin Dempsey expressed negative opinions regarding the Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism course, characterizing it as "totally objectionable" and "against our values." General Dempsey personally committed to removing any similar curriculum from military professional education within the JFSC and elsewhere....

I urge you to read the entire letter for yourself at THIS LINK.

We as individuals can scream, "I will not submit," until our faces turn blue and our voices are hoarse. But if our government and our military submit in the fashion described in the above link, we are done for with regard to preserving the American ideals of liberty.

REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR

Even though 70 years have passed since December 7, 1941, interment services continue in Honolulu:

Pearl Harbor:Final Wishes from Andrew Breese on Vimeo.

On This Independence Day, Remember Those Who Served

Memorials to the fallen in Washington, D.C. (hat tip to RP Free Speech), with "Adagio for Strings" performed by brass:

Memorial Day 2011

This Memorial Day 2011, the following has been made possible at Arlington National Cemetery:

This Memorial Day, visitors to Arlington National Cemetery will have a special way to remember and honor a loved one or a fallen hero thanks to a generous donation of 10,000 long stemmed roses.

The American and Ecuadorian Flower Growers donated the roses for Memorial Day as a way to show their appreciation and gratitude for the sacrifices made by the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

“This thoughtful donation will aid in enriching our visitors experience on Memorial Day and serve as a tangible symbol to honor and remember those interred at Arlington National Cemetery,” said Kathryn Condon, executive director, Army National Cemeteries Program.

Visitors are encouraged to take two roses – one to place on the grave of a loved one and one to take home in memory of that person....

Please remember wherever you are at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time today to observe the meaning of Memorial Day by pausing for the National Moment of Remembrance.


Additional reading: "In Honor of Fallen Patriots," an essay by Mark Alexander of the Patriot Post. Worth your time.

General McChrystal Apologizes

From MSNBC:

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan was ordered back to the U.S. Tuesday to explain explain controversial remarks critical of the Obama administration.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal apologized for a magazine profile in which his aides are quoted mocking Vice President Joe Biden and Richard Holbrooke, the special U.S. representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

An article published this week in Rolling Stone magazine depicts McChrystal as a lone wolf on the outs with many important figures in the Obama administration and unable to convince even some of his own soldiers that his strategy can win the war.

In the article, McChrystal was also quoted as saying he felt betrayed by the man the White House chose to be his diplomatic partner, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.

[...]

The article portrays McChrystal's team as disapproving of the Obama administration, with the exception of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who backed McCrystal's request for additional troops in Afghanistan.

The article claims McChrystal has seized control of the war "by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House."...

Read more at the above link.

How bad is the situation in Afghanistan for a general to openly blast a Presidential administration?

Then, there's the following too:

Rolling Stone interviewed troops frustrated by McChrystal's strict rules for combat that are intended to reduce the number of civilian casualties.

At one outpost, a soldier McChrystal had met earlier was killed in a house that the local U.S. commander had repeatedly asked to destroy. The request was denied, apparently out of concern that razing the house would anger locals whose allegiance the U.S. is trying to win.

"Does that make any (expletive) sense?" Pfc. Jared Pautsch asks. "We should just drop a (expletive) bomb on this place. You sit and ask yourself, 'What are we doing here?'"

At Arlington, each soldier has a special lady

MSNBC:

Volunteers honor troops and make sure none is buried alone
By HELEN O'NEILL
The Associated Press
updated 7:45 p.m. ET, Sat., May 29, 2010

ARLINGTON, Va. - Joyce Johnson remembers the drums beating slowly as she walked with her girls from the Old Post Chapel, behind the horse-drawn caisson carrying the flag-draped casket of her husband.

She remembers struggling to maintain her composure as she stared at his freshly dug grave, trying not to dwell on the terrible sight in the distance — the gaping hole in the Pentagon where he had so proudly worked.

The three-volley salute. Taps. The chaplain handing her a perfectly folded flag. The blur of tributes.

And then a lady stepped forward, a stranger, dressed not in uniform but in a simple dark suit. She whispered a few words and pressed two cards into Johnson's hands.

"If there is anything you need ..."

Then she melted back into the crowd.

Later Johnson would think of her as a touchingly, human presence in a sea of starched uniforms and salutes. She would learn that the stranger was an "Arlington lady" — one of a small band of volunteers, mainly spouses of retired military officers, who attend every funeral in Arlington National Cemetery. She would read the notes — a formal one from the Army Chief of Staff and his wife, and a personal handwritten one from the Arlington lady herself.

She would learn of their mission: to ensure no soldier is buried alone.

Johnson wasn't alone. In fact she felt as though an entire nation was grieving with her.

But she never forgot the kindness of her Arlington Lady.

And several years later, as she wrestled with how to best to honor her husband, she dug out the lady's card. This is something I can do, she thought, not just for him, but for every soldier.

"It doesn't matter whether we are burying a four-star general or a private," says Margaret Mensch, head of the Army ladies. "They all deserve to have someone say thank you at their grave."

Mensch is sitting at her desk in the basement of the cemetery's administration building in the cramped office shared by ladies from the Navy, Air Force, Army and Coast Guard. The place bustles with activity — young military escorts in dress uniform arriving to accompany ladies to funerals, chaplains scribbling eulogies in their tiny office across the hall, cemetery representatives ushering mourners into private rooms upstairs.

30 funerals each weekday
There are approximately 30 funerals in Arlington every weekday and the ladies attend every one. All have their own reasons and stories.

There is Mensch, married to a retired Army colonel, who oversees the mammoth task of organizing the schedules for her 66 Army ladies and who says attending the funerals is the greatest honor of her life. And Doreen Huylebroeck, a 63-year-old nurse who remembers how desperately she wanted an Arlington lady beside her when her own husband, a retired Navy officer, died three years ago. Janine Moghaddam, who at 41 is one of the youngest Arlington ladies, and who felt a desperate need serve her country in some small way after Sept. 11, 2001. And Johnson herself.

She treks to the cemetery in spring when cherry blossoms burst over the rows of white stones and everything seems dusted in yellow pollen. And in the swelter of summer when the stones blaze in the heat and mourners sometimes pass out at services. Even in winter, when the wind whips through the marble pillars of the Columbarium, Johnson and the other ladies keep their vigil, clinging to the arms of their escorts as they pick their way through the mud and snow.

Always elegantly dressed, often in hats and gloves. Always standing, hand over heart, a respectful distance from the grave. Always mindful of history.

The ladies know every inch of Arlington's 624 manicured acres, from the stones of freed slaves marked "unknown citizens" to the grave of the first soldier interred here (Private William Christman, a farmer from Pennsylvania who fought in the Civil War) to Section 60, where the men and women who lost their lives in the current wars are buried.

"So many stones, so many stories," says Paula Mckinley, head of the Navy ladies, as she drives through the cemetery one recent spring day, stopping at a section not far from the throngs of tourists at President John F. Kennedy's grave.

Baldwin. Curtis. Sanchez. She walks among their headstones reciting their names.

With her booming voice, red hair tucked under a straw hat, and brisk manner, Mckinley, whose husband is a retired Navy officer, is a striking figure. But she is subdued by the graves, reverential. "They all deserve to be remembered, and to be visited," she says.

McKinley, who has been an Arlington lady for 21 years, drives a little further. She stops by a grove of willow oaks, searching for a specific plot.

"Here you are, sweetheart," she says, gently touching the stone of a young woman Navy officer who died in an accident at the age of 25. The officer's mother called from California one day — on her daughter's birthday — and asked if an Arlington lady could put flowers on the grave. Now McKinley visits regularly. She says it's the least she can do.

Job to honor, not grieve
The first group of Arlington ladies were formed in 1948 after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg and his wife, Gladys, noticed an airman being buried without any family members present, just a chaplain and honor guard. It seemed so sad, and somehow so wrong. So Gladys Vandenberg enlisted a group of officers' wives to attend all Air Force funerals. The other branches of the armed services followed, with the exception of the Marines, who do not have a group.

The ladies insist they are not mourners. They come to honor, not to grieve. "An Arlington lady doesn't cry," is practically a mantra.

And yet, there are times when that is inevitable.

McKinley remembers choking up as she offered condolences to a 10-year-old girl, who had just lost her parents. The child reached up and hugged her tight. And the time a young widow from Peru clung to her, begging McKinley to sit next to her in the front row. Her husband had died suddenly and there were no family members to comfort her.

Linda Willey, head of the Air Force ladies, describes the pain of burying friends from the Pentagon after September 11, 2001, when shards of debris still littered the cemetery and tears flowed freely behind dark glasses.

And Mensch tells of the heartache the Army ladies felt last year when one of their own escorts was killed in Iraq. The handsome young soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division, who had escorted the ladies to hundreds of funerals, was buried with full military honors, an Arlington lady standing by his grave.

About 145 ladies volunteer in the four branches, which all have slightly different rules. The Army ladies maintain a strict dress code — no slacks, no red, panty hose to be worn at all times. The Navy ladies introduce themselves to the families before the funeral, and follow up with personal notes about six weeks later.

All of the ladies volunteer for one day a month, sometimes attending four or five funerals in a single day. All have memories and stories: the time a family feud erupted and police had to break up the mourners; the young widow who wore a red cocktail dress because it was her husband's favorite; the older widow who refused to get out of the car because she saw the Arlington lady standing near the grave. She assumed this was the other woman.

"You never know what to expect, and you never judge," Willey says as she walks among the headstones and ponders her role. Willey, 63, who is married to a retired Air Force colonel, became a lady almost by accident, as a favor to a friend who kept pressing her. From her first funeral she knew that this was what she was meant to do.

"It just felt right, such an honor," Willey says. "It's such a simple gesture and yet it can be so powerful."

As she talks, strains of "America the Beautiful" seem to float over the stones from a grave site a short distance away. Jan Jackson of Fort Collins, Colo., is burying her parents. Their urns sit next to each other on a table above their joint grave.

Jackson's mother died in 2006 and her father, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, died last year. She had planned this springtime date on what would have been her father's 96th birthday. She wanted to honor her parents, married 67 years, by burying them together in the nation's hallowed ground.

As a member of a military family, Jackson, 59, is familiar with the pomp and precision and patriotism that accompany funerals. But she was utterly unprepared for the flood of emotion that swept over her as a young military escort took her arm and guided her from the chapel to the grave.

It was a small funeral — just Jackson, her son and grandchildren. And her Arlington lady.

Everything about the service was perfect, she said later. And this stranger was there to make it even better — "almost an angelic kind of person who is there for you even though she doesn't know you, even though she is not required, even though it is not her job. It was so special, so comforting."

From around the cemetery drift the sounds of other services, bands and gun salutes and drum rolls, one funeral seeming to blend into the next.

In one section, three daughters in black dresses and pearls, are burying their father, a former Navy officer who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and who meticulously planned his own funeral, even visiting Arlington regularly to view his final resting place. He smiles from a photograph propped next to his urn.

In the Columbarium, decorated veterans, laden with medals, are saluting one of their own — a member of the naval aviation squadron known as the Golden Eagles, and one of the last survivors of the Battle of Midway.

And in Section 60 a widow, young and beautiful and dressed in black, clutches her toddler son. Before her, standing to attention, the honor guard that had processed behind her husband's coffin, pulled in a caisson by six white horses. In the distance, the rifle guard that had fired the salute. In a far corner, the lone bugler who had played taps.

On this steamy spring day, beneath a towering oak, a 27-year-old Army sergeant, killed in an attack in Pakistan a month earlier, is about to be laid to rest.

"Today the country tries to say thank you ... and yet words are inadequate," the chaplain begins.
His widow seems overwhelmed, her eyes locked on the silver casket that holds his remains. His parents softly sob.

And then a lady steps forward, an older woman, dressed in a simple dark suit.

She whispers a few words of condolences and presses two cards into the widow's hands.

"If there is anything you need ..."

Unreal. Obama May Allow US Soldiers to be Tried in the Hague

Midnight Rider comments: Right. U.S. soldiers will be tried in The Hague and KSM will be tried in New York.

All makes perfect sense now. . .

Unreal. Team Obama may allow US soldiers to be tried in the Hague for war crimes.
The Wall Street Journal reported, via Jihad Watch:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed “great regret” in August that the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This has fueled speculation that the Obama administration may reverse another Bush policy and sign up for what could lead to the trial of Americans for war crimes in The Hague.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, though, has no intention of waiting for Washington to submit to the court’s authority. Luis Moreno Ocampo says he already has jurisdiction—at least with respect to Afghanistan.

Because Kabul in 2003 ratified the Rome Statute—the ICC’s founding treaty—all soldiers on Afghan territory, even those from nontreaty countries, fall under the ICC’s oversight, Mr. Ocampo told me. And the chief prosecutor says he is already conducting a “preliminary examination” into whether NATO troops, including American soldiers, fighting the Taliban may have to be put in the dock.

“We have to check if crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide have been committed in Afghanistan,” Mr. Ocampo told me. “There are serious allegations against the Taliban and al Qaeda and serious allegations about warlords, even against some who are connected with members of the government.” Taking up his inquiry of Allied soldiers, he added, “there are different reports about problems with bombings and there are also allegations about torture.”

It was clear who the targets of these particular inquiries are but the chief prosecutor shied away from spelling it out.

Asked repeatedly whether the examination of bombings and torture allegations refers to NATO and U.S. soldiers, Mr. Ocampo finally stated that “we are investigating whoever commits war crimes, including the group you mentioned.”

USS Jason Dunham

h/t Jawa:

USS Jason Dunham to be Christened this Weekend

BATH, Maine (AP) -- The Navy's newest destroyer bears a name that's familiar to Marines. The ship that'll be christened on Saturday at Bath Iron Works bears the name of Cpl. Jason Dunham, a Marine who jumped on a grenade to save his comrades in 2004 in Iraq.

Dunham's parents, Deb and Dan Dunham, will be at the Maine shipyard along with other Marines who served with him in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines.

Dunham, who's from Scio earned the Medal of Honor for his actions on April 14, 2004. His unit was searching a line of cars for insurgents when he was attacked by one of them. His last words were a warning: "Watch his hand!" Dunham covered the grenade with his Kevlar helmet and his body. Two fellow Marines survived. Dunham died eight days later.

USMC MUSIC VIDEO-DEDICATED TO CPL. JASON DUNHAM

Didn't We Just Leave This Party?

According to FOXNews, apparently former VP Cheney isn't alone in contemplating the use of US military troops in what may or may not be warranted circumstances. I wonder if the folks at FEMA have taken the time to have a lot at the myriad conspriacy blogs that have been issuing warnings about their response to the H1N1 outbreak, being as they just handed them a can of gasoline and a match.

It would probably be helpful if someone on the ACIP or at the CDC or FEMA took a moment from their busy schedules to explain to the public exactly what it is they expect from this outbreak. Does the major threat come from severity of symptoms, numbers affected, strain on medical facilities, loss of productivity, high percentage of mortality, or all of the above? If they are still fuzzy on "how much of a health threat the flu poses this fall" (see below), why has all hell broken loose at the alphabet agencies?

I'm not even in one of the high-risk groups, mind you. I'm just askin'.

From FOX:

The Pentagon is preparing to make troops available if necessary to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency tackle a potential outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, FOX News has confirmed. This comes as a government panel recommends certain groups be placed at the front of the line for swine flu vaccinations this fall, including pregnant women, health care workers and children six months and older.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices panel also said those first vaccinated should include parents and other caregivers of infants; non-elderly adults who have high-risk medical conditions, and young adults ages 19 to 24. The panel, whose recommendations typically are adopted by federal health officials, voted to set vaccination priorities for those groups Wednesday during a meeting in Atlanta.

Obama administration officials told Congress that H1N1 vaccinations won't be available for several months.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is preparing to sign an order authorizing the military to set up five regional teams to deal with the potential outbreak of H1N1 influenza if FEMA requests help.

A senior U.S. defense official told FOX News that the plan calls for military task forces to work in conjunction with the FEMA. No final decision has been reached on how the military effort would be manned, but one source said it likely would include
personnel from all branches of the military.

It is not known how many troops would be needed and whether they would come from the active duty or the National Guard and Reserve forces.

In the event of a major outbreak, civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts, the official said. The military, as it would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients.

As a first step, military leaders have asked Gates to authorize planning for the potential assistance. Orders to deploy actual forces would be reviewed later, depending on how much of a health threat the flu poses this fall, the officials said.

FOX News' Jennifer Griffin, Brian Wilson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

On the other hand, if it works, maybe next year they can call out the troops to help with granny's prescription rationing.

PASTORIUS CUTTING IN HERE -

From Noisy Room:

Swine Flu.

Because a “medical emergency” is a plausible justification for getting the military involved.

You wouldn’t suggest “civil unrest” as a reason, because, y’know, Posse Comitatus and all that. Don’t want to suggest “terrorism” ‘cuz that opens a whole ‘nother can-o-worms. Well, let me think, . . . hmmm . . . oh, wait! A medical emergency. That would work! No one but a lunatic would believe we were actually preparing to deal with a civil unrest emergency. It ain’t perfect, but it’ll have to do.

So, even though the CDC has pretty much written off the swine flu as a real threat, it’s still the most plausible medical emergency. We’ll use that.

I guess I’m just a lunatic. I’m the kind of paranoid idiot who wouldn’t put ANYTHING past these assholes.

But then, what would I know? Everyone knows that anyone who doesn’t trust the prez is crazy.

Yeah. Well, I’ve got yer “trust” right here.

Our take on this is one of de-sensitization.

Find plausible reasons to get the military involved. Get the people used to seeing the military in “benign” involvement scenarios. Be careful not to set off the Posse Comitatus alarm. “Hey, we’re just here to help the FEMA guys.”

Once people are used to seeing the military “help out” in various contexts they will be far less likely to freak out at our having the military “help out” during other kinds of “civil infrastructure failures.”

These folks are masters of incrementalism.

The Troops Support Us. Support Them.

- Bosch Fawstin

Gaubatz: US Troops Would Die for America But Not For Obama

Frontpage has an interview (or here if the link won't work) conducted by Jamie Glazov with Dave Gaubatz, the first U.S. civilian federal agent to arrive in Iraq in 2003, which sheds light on the "flip-flopping" behavior of Obama with regard to intelligence gathering, interrogation methods and releasing photos of "torture". As many of us suspected, those in our armed forces have come to question not only Obama's policies but the motives behind them, and their disapproval has been expressed to him in no uncertain terms, albeit behind closed doors. As Gaubatz states:

President Obama has made too many alleged mistakes for his actions to be anything but intentional. Americans at some point need to understand that, even by his own admissions, he went to a church for 20 years led by a leftwing extremist, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, he was friends with terrorist Bill Ayers, and bowed to a Saudi Arabian leader who condones under Sharia law the marriage of 8 year old children to adult men, and still in 2009 distributes literature advocating Muslims to kill Christians, Jews, and even Muslims who do not adhere to the strict adherence of Sharia law.

[...]

I do not believe President Obama has the best interest of our country, our citizens, or the thousands of military and intelligence officers as his primary goal. If I were taking all of Obama’s actions and putting them into an “intelligence report” the following conclusion could be made:

[1] President Obama does not have the best interest of our country, our citizens, or the thousands of military and intelligence officers as his primary goal.

[2] The release of the ‘enhanced interrogation methods’ could be seen as an intentional signal to Al Qaeda terrorists and their supporters, that if you are ever captured, you should not release any information about your fellow ‘brothers and sisters’ who are involved in ‘Jihad’ because the worst that can happen is you may have to undergo inconveniences, but nothing life threatening.

[3] President Obama and his supporters are indeed sending a message to potential enemy combatants that could be interpreted as such: stay the course, it may be long and difficult, but patience and perseverance will ultimately lead to your victory.

When asked by Glazov why President Obama reversed his position about releasing photographs of prisoners allegedly tortured by American personnel and why Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is lying about what she knew of interrogation methods prior to 2003, Gaubatz states that he believes

President Obama has been tactfully informed by U.S. military leaders that our brave troops on the ground are risking their lives everyday for America and are beginning to ask who their ‘Commander in Chief’ is and what ideology he truly supports. These troops have young sons and daughters at home, and although they are willing to give their lives for America, they are second guessing themselves about dying for a Commander in Chief who is aiding and providing comfort to our enemies.

What this indicates for the future is that Obama may now be aware that he will not be able to depend on the US military to carry out any orders of his which violate the Constitutional rights of American citizens. The Obamassiah has been put on notice. Gaubatz goes on to praise former VP Dick Cheney for speaking out:

Cheney is essentially saying Americans will not allow our country to be destroyed and there are millions of people to include our troops, LE, and our intelligence officers that will not allow it to happen. I could be wrong, but I do not believe so.

I have watched the ‘homemade’ videos made from Islamic terrorists when they beat our soldiers, had their snipers shoot them, and slowly cut their throats to enhance their suffering and subsequently beheaded them. My fellow Americans, this is torture. Don’t believe me; ask innocent Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan who have
witnessed this and worse.

Recently I put together a one hour long video of what ‘torture’ actually is. The video is from various Islamic Jihadist sites I have monitored for several years and will never be seen in the MSM. The DVD is titled, “Torture in the Name of Islam”. If readers truly want to see what torture is and what Islamic scholars operating in America advocate, then they should watch.

"But we must renounce torture to protect our own troops if they are captured" has been a catchphrase of those defending Obama's policies. As Gaubatz points out, it will do no such thing because they are already subject to torture if captured. It is difficult to recommend to anyone that they view footage of real torture and sadistic killings, but at this point it may be the only thing that will jolt some people out of their complacency.

There's lots more to this interview, and it is obvious that Teh One will have to revise his evaluation as to with whom the US military will stand should he attempt to deliver this country to the Islamists.