ilBLOGical tidBITs

An article in today New York Times illustrates how a specific political office can affect the rhetoric of certain politicians, i.e., former governor Napolitano, who was an outspoken advocate for immigration reform and is now the secretary of Homeland Security will continue to allow the departments use of a private immigration detention facility with an established record of prisoner abuse.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/nyregion/21detain.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Apparently, the rumors are still flying regarding the proposed Obama health care reform plan. In typical rabblerousing fashion, the issue of “death panels” has been countered by CNN’s “Truth Squad.”

Let’s face it, if it’s not the Republican Party stirring the pot, the Democratic Party is there to add a cup of conspiracy theory to the stew, and if neither party is making it exciting enough, the media will certainly turn up the heat to bring it all to a boil.

In the interest of calming people down and facilitating an intelligent conversation on the proposed health care plan, I submit the following:

Jerry Springer audiences are not being bused in for the town hall meetings by the Republican Party — there are enough idiots to go around;

Illegal aliens will not get better treatment than U.S. citizens, but they will be required to submit their flying saucers to inspection upon landing on U.S. soil;

Oprah will not head the super-secret health care steering committee — Hillary has held that post since the first Clinton administration; and lastly, should you experience anger over the proposed health care plan for more than four hours, consult your doctor to see if Prozac is right for you.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/20/health.care.bad.info/index.html

The U.S. Army is looking to institute training directed at providing soldiers with the skills necessary to deal with the stress of combat, which has resulted in an increase of incidents of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Putting the seriousness of this issue aside, perhaps we should require similar training focused on cultural understanding for political leaders who continue to put our servicemen and women into harm’s way because of their failure to grasp the idea that not every country in the world wants to be just like the U.S.

http://www.military.com/news/article/army-wants-gis-emotionally-resilient.html?wh=news

There is an old practice familiar to many defense attorneys — if you can’t defend your client based on the facts or evidence; put the prosecution, police and the criminal justice system on trial.

Based on an Associated Press article filed from McAllen, Texas, it appears that U.S. law enforcement agencies, and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol are going to be taking their lumps for U.S./Mexican border issues.

Just as the U.S. has been blamed for the drug-related violence and the smuggling of arms into Mexico, now law enforcement on the U.S. side is being characterized as being as corrupt as Mexican authorities.

Instead of officials on both side trying to fix blame, they should be working together to fix the problem, but then that is physically dangerous on the Mexican side and politically dangerous on the U.S. side, which means more of the same — and the criminals win, again.

http://www.military.com/news/article/border-police-corruption-on-the-rise.html?col=1186032310810&wh=news

It appears the U.S. Army may have stepped over the line in its surveillance of protesters according to an article posted on Military.com.

This would not be the first time that law enforcement officials at Fort Lewis, Wash., have closely monitored the activities of protestors who frequently show up at the gates of the installation — I know, firsthand.

In the mid-1980s, I was stationed at Fort Lewis working as a military police investigator. Since certain units based at Fort Lewis were allegedly involved in the training of South American governments, several groups would arrive at a designated gate, protest for the benefit of whatever media was present, walk across the boundary line, be detained and transported to a processing center, receive a U.S. Magistrate’s Court ticket, and be transported to another gate, released and sent on their merry way until the next time.

This went on for quite some time, and obviously, it is still happening. While I was there, we had strict guidance from the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) office regarding the collection of information on these people. Firstly, we only observed their activity and videotaped the protests as evidence in the event that some other criminal activity occurred. Once the tapes were reviewed by JAG, they were degaussed and destroyed.

Since military police investigators usually work in civilian clothes, we were often sent to known gathering places to report back on the number of protestors to assist with ensuring we had the necessary logistics to process the protestors if they did trespass.

On one occasion, I had to dress down a little to go into a local homeless shelter where the protestors were meeting before departing for Fort Lewis. Aside from sampling the soup and making a personal cash donation to the collection bucket, I did not gather any other information on the group; After all, we are suppose to support and defend the constitution, which allows them the right to lawful assembly and freedom of speech. As it turned out, the protest that day fizzled since they were competing with the “Hands Across America” event.

Hopefully, this turns out to be nothing. I would hate to think that soldiers are being asked to violate the rights of the very people they are here to protect. Only time will tell.

“Never exceed your rights, and they will soon become unlimited.”

— Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)

http://www.military.com/news/article/August-2009/army-probes-anti-war-groups-spy-claim.html?wh=news

Recent indignant outcries from members of Congress about not being briefed on a covert CIA program — which never got off the ground to begin with — would carry more weight if the frequent practice by members of both parties leaking information for political reasons was not so prevalent on Capitol Hill.

One of the reasons I am sure that this program never stood a snowball’s chance in hell is the demoralized and depleted human intelligence assets of the U.S. intelligence community. For too long we have been relying on a combination of unreliable in-country sources — who often have their own agendas and use us to get rid of their rivals — and high-tech assets to detect low-tech operations run by very resourceful and creative enemies, which we continually underestimate because of cultural biases.

Here’s an idea that I think everyone could support: The CIA provides thorough briefings to the appropriate committee members, who then agree to being monitored by the CIA, and if and when they or one of their staff leaks classified information, they are stood up against a wall, provided with a last cigarette, a blindfold and shot for treason. How’s that for a political agenda?

How do you know a Pakistani intelligence officer is lying to you? His lips are moving.

Since the U.S. began military operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan civilian and military leaders have claimed to be doing everything they could to assist the U.S. Now a report from CNN has Pakistan’s military professing that it can deliver the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to the table for peace talks, but only if the U.S. offers concessions to Pakistan regarding its many disputes with neighboring India, which is an emerging market for U.S. businesses and industry — to include the sale of arms.

Once again, we see the results of short-sighted decisions to gut the U.S. intelligence community and the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) sources in favor of using local assets in conjunction with high-tech satellite and electronic methods (SIGINT).

So, who needs the old Soviet Union as a foil in the arms race when we can sell to both sides — something about which the U.S. has been pointing fingers at other countries for years.

It will be interesting to see how the current administration handles this overture, especially since President Obama is responsible for the increase of U.S. forces in the region. It reminds me of President Nixon’s bombing of North Vietnam to get the North Vietnamese government back to the peace talks in Paris — and we all remember how that turned out.

“Wars teach us not to love our enemies but to hate our allies.”

— W.L. George

The old saying “all’s fair in love and war” seems to be playing out in Afghanistan and the tribal regions of northern Pakistan, as Taliban fighters escaped U.S. Marines by dressing in burqa robes, the traditional garb of women in the region.

Unfortunately, the new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in the region, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has implemented strict measures to reduce collateral damage, i.e., civilian casualties. Although the intent of the new rules of engagement is to help foster good will toward U.S., NATO and Afghani forces, taking the high road may be impossible when the enemy frequently uses civilian noncombatants as human shields and is suspected of placing dead bodies at the site of missile strikes to show to journalists as “proof” of indiscriminate violence against innocent people.

http://www.military.com/news/article/taliban-wore-burqas-to-escape-marines.html?col=1186032310810&wh=wh

Aside from the obvious innuendos — get your minds out of the gutter — an article in yesterday’s “New York Times” revealed that the French government has already released funds to economic stimulus projects. Mean while, projects in the U.S., which were suppose to be “shovel ready” appear to be buried under a pile of the stuff American politicians have been shoveling for years. 

“The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.”

— P. J. O’Rourke (1947– )

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/business/global/07stimulus.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss

We recognize July 4, 1776, as the day our nation declared its independence, but for the next seven years, many lives would be sacrificed to secure liberty for the people of the United States of America.

Less than 40 years later, the nation would once again fight to maintain its sovereignty in a world fraught with battling empires. Nearly a half century would pass before the burning questions of state rights and individual freedom caused a conflagration that would forge a divided nation into a single, yet still imperfect, union.

For the next 144 years, wars fought for human rights and struggles within our nation for civil rights have indelibly marked our country and its people. But throughout it all, the spirit of independence has lit the dark places where courageous people tread, sacrificing much to ensure that liberty’s light is never extinguished.

We may recognize our independence on a single day, but we should celebrate it everyday – it is too precious and too important for just one day.