Oliver North has a column out this week about Obama’s open mic moment.  A must read:

Diplomatic Duplicity

WASHINGTON — In the summer of 1987, just before my “television debut,” a true friend instructed me in a congressional hearing, “Remember, the microphone is always on — even when it’s not!” It’s a lesson I never have forgotten. Apparently, Barack Obama doesn’t have any friends to give him similar advice, or he doesn’t learn well. Either way, an open mic during this week’s nuclear security summit in Seoul, South Korea, has revealed our president’s extraordinary hubris and his penchant for dangerous diplomatic duplicity.

The video clip of an unscripted exchange March 26 between Obama and outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev should be grounds for the American people to hire a new commander in chief in November. The two leaders, evidently unaware they were being recorded, were discussing new limits on U.S. ballistic missile defense.

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And you know who is going to have to clean up the (hopefully, non-toxic) mess?  Our Military ~  Made up of our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, Moms and Dads. All our so self-important leaders will have no problem putting the burden of saving their political a$$es on our men and women in uniform when their morally-bankrupt and politically-balless policies’ shite hits the fan.  And it must…they never seem to learn.

Our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen will stand up and go forward, as they always do, and do their job.

And do it very well, with no thanks to their civilian commanders.

I. Can’t. Stand. It.

Hero

Pls pray for them all.

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Obama was running against Bobby Rush for a Congressional Seat.  He didn’t win that time.  (Maybe Bobby was wearing a hoody then too.  Or he had bigger, meaner campaign helpers than !Barack!.)

Apparently Obama wasn’t against high paying jobs then, as he was determined that “our people” would be trained to compete for high level jobs.

Oh! And he was demanding that he be held accountable then too.  Oooh, and moral leadership expected from him.

“The questions concern the community but the answer’s with you.” Joe Green

Yeah…right.

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So many Vietnam Vets came home with the war still raging inside them, facing another war on the homefront.

Too many were forgotten.

Too many untruths were told.

Let us give them the Welcome Home they deserve and learn the truth of our VN Veterans and their War.

MYTH: The United States lost the war in Vietnam

Reality: The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. (Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, a renowned expert on the Vietnam War) [Westmoreland] This included the Tet Offensive in 1968, which was a major military defeat for the VC (Viet Cong) and NVA (North Vietnamese Army).

THE UNITED STATES DID NOT LOSE THE WAR IN VIETNAM, THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE DID — after the U.S. Congress cut off funding. The South Vietnamese ran out of fuel, ammunition and other supplies because of a lack of support from our Congress, while the North Vietnamese were very well supplied by China and the Soviet Union. And those who lived through that experience don’t want to see the same things happen in Iraq if we pull our troops out too soon, before the Iraqi people have created a stable situation in their country and are capable of defending themselves.

Vietnam War Vet Tribute

I’m still in Saigon

MYTH: Most Vietnam veterans were drafted.

Reality: Two-thirds of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. In contrast, two-thirds of the men who served in World War II were drafted. [Westmoreland] Approximately 70% of those killed were volunteers. [McCaffrey] Many men volunteered for the draft, so even some of the draftees were actually volunteers.

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Vietnam War Medical Personnel Tribute

We were young and didn’t know that we we keeping names off the wall.

MYTH: The war was fought largely by the poor and uneducated.

Reality: Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or infantry officers.

Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. 79% had a high school education or better. [McCaffrey]

Television brought the brutality of war
into the comfort of the living room.
Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America
- not on the battlefields of Vietnam.
— Marshall McLuhan, 1975

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day

Now’s Our Time

The Vietnam Vets didn’t start the war, nor did they set the policies of the war.  Yet they took a heavy share of the blame by those opposed to the war.  They were shamed for their most honorable part and sacrifice.

They deserve far better than to be remembered as “baby killers” and  “murderers” and war criminals.

Welcome them home and learn the truth.

And pass it on.

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Yes, that was snarky, but i’m so damned tired of this poor excuse of a CinC

Our Troops deserve so much better.

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Dear God in Heaven ~

On the floor

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The Defense

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A trip down History Lane by a young republican

The 60’s really weren’t all that cool.

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Soldier after my own heart:

U.S Army W.T.F! moments

Ok, Ladies and Gentlemen the rant that I promised. Share this if you will, put it in your local papers, I am sick of us being villified like demons.

This is to the media who has so chosen to hold debates on your named-after-myself CNN and FOX news shows to go back and forth amongst yourselves about the actions of a S…oldier named Bales. You choose to vilify the whole lot of us for the actions of us? I loathe every one of you with every fiber of my military being. Let me break this down for your narcissistic pricks whose creativity starts and stops with naming your show after yourself, whose knowledge of world events is centered around Reuters and “reports”, and whose only loyalty lies in ‘ratings’. While you sit around your tables in your suits and ties debating the effects of combat on troops and “poor decisions” by “too many” troops; somewhere on a mountain range or in a desolate wasteland a Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant debate the best egress route, or best flank position to succumb an enemy determined to spill their blood. While you sit around comfortably in your overpaid jobs speaking ever so sanctimoniously of your views of the viciousness of wars and the necessity for peace; somewhere right now a battalion of Soldiers await hot chow to be delivered from a helicopter, while pulling guard duty and witnessing the REALITY of war daily – fighting to win and ENSURE peace. While you preach to your mindless viewers and stir the simple masses with your doctored words and pointless statistics; somewhere in a desert a Soldier writes a letter to his wife and children hoping it finds its safe way to them and he or she does not become a statistic.
The point I want to make to you selfish, self-invested, egotistical pricks is this – it is simple to speak ill of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marine who spend every waking moment away from their families because they have vowed to protect the motherland, her constitution and your freedom. Do we want your thanks? Absolutely not, as a matter of fact, your empty praises to “support the troops” on one side of your mouth whilst simultaneously ensuring to bash us on the other side are no better than the greased up politician who only pats your back to find the soft spot.

You all, the entire free media, should be ashamed of yourselves. What Bales did was a travesty and as a friend of mine put it “metaphorically hit the reset button in Afghanistan”, but to blindly, ignorantly and pathetically use him as the representative of every good Soldier out there is tantamount to the same psychology and philosophy that breeds racism, sexism, discrimination and hate. Take away now the pictures of my fellow brothers and sisters in arms from your shows, take our names from your lips for you no longer deserve to tell our story. You Sir or Ma’am, do not deserve the distinct privilege of sharing our story with the world. Our story need not be told, we do not what we do for praise or recognition, the only thanks we need is the knowledge that every American sleeps comfortably at night under a warm blanket of freedom. On a final note – go fuck yourselves.

Couldn’t have said it better.

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Barack Obama on Homeland Security : Mar 27, 2007
America must practice the patriotism it preaches

I think it is unconscionable for us to stand by our troops and hoist the flag and suggest how patriotic we are at the same time as the veterans’ budget is being effectively cut.

I’m going to monitor very closely how we are treating 100,000+ veterans wh are coming home, to make sure the VA has the capacity to provide transition services for veterans who are leaving the service and reentering civilian life–particularly the National Guardsman and Reservists who did not expect to be fighting in Iraq.

Source: In His Own Words, edited by Lisa Rogak, p.155

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Barack Obama on Homeland Security : Mar 14, 2007
Comprehensive plan for our veterans healthcare

Washington says that they support the troops. They give long speeches about valor and sacrifice. But when it comes time to sending our troops into battle with the proper equipment and ensure that veterans have what they need when they get home, they don’t do anything except slap a yellow ribbon on the back of their SUV. That’s how come our men and women have to use scrap metal to protect their Humvees.

Our veterans end up living among mice and mold. They stare at stacks of paperwork. They thought they left the frontline in Iraq but they came home to a new frontline of red tape and bureaucracy.

This is unacceptable. When our veterans come home, I don’t want them crawling around a dumpster for a meal or a box for shelter. I don’t want them drowning in whiskey to silence the PTSD. I don’t want that for our veterans. We know they deserve more.

So let’s make a promise today–and say that, right here and right now, is when we begin to put together a comprehensive plan for our veterans.

Source: 2007 IAFF Presidential Forum in Washington DC

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Put forward a national service program

The volunteer Army is a way for us to maintain excellence. If we are deploying our military wisely, then a voluntary army is sufficient, although I would call for an increase in our force structure, particularly around the Army and the Marines, because we’ve got to put an end to people going on three, four, five tours of duty and the strain on families is enormous. The obligation to serve exists for everybody. That’s why I’ve put forward a national service program that is tied to my tuition credit for students who want to go to college. You get $4000 every year to help you go to college. In return, you have to engage in some form of national service. Military service has to be an option. We have to have civilian options as well. Not just the Peace Corps, but one of the things that we need desperately are people in our foreign service speaking foreign languages in a lot of work that may not be hand-to-hand combat but just as critical in ensuring our long-term safety & security.

Source: 2008 Democratic debate in Las Vegas , Jan 15, 2008

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Strategic issue is where to send & how to fund our troops

McCAIN: Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic & a strategy. Obama, who after promising not to vote to cut off funds for the troops, did the incredible thing of voting to cut off the funds for the troops.

OBAMA: McCain opposed funding for troops in legislation that had a timetable, because he didn’t believe in a timetable. I opposed funding a mission that had no timetable, and was open- ended, giving a blank check to George Bush. I understand the difference between tactics & strategy. And the strategic question that the president has to ask is not whether or not we are employing a particular approach in the country once we have made the decision to be there. The question is, was this wise? We have seen Afghanistan deteriorate. We need more troops there. We should end [the Iraq] war responsibly. We should do it in phases. In 16 months we should be able to reduce our combat troops and bolster our efforts in Afghanistan so that we can capture and kill bin Laden and crush al Qaeda

Source: 2008 first presidential debate, Obama vs. McCain , Sep 26, 2008

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Go after al Qaeda but also shrink pool of potential recruits

The way we have to approach the problem of Islamic extremism, is we have to hunt down those who would resort to violence to move their ideology forward. We should be going after al Qaeda and those networks fiercely and effectively.

But what we also want to do is to shrink the pool of potential recruits. And that involves engaging the Islamic world rather than vilifying it, and making sure that we understand that not only are those in Islam who would resort to violence a tiny fraction of the Islamic world, but that also, the Islamic world itself is diverse.

And that lumping together Shia extremists with Sunni extremists, assuming that Persian culture is the same as Arab culture, that those kinds of errors in lumping Islam together result in us not only being less effective in hunting down and isolating terrorists, but also in alienating what need to be our long-term allies on a whole host of issues.

Source: CNN Late Edition: 2008 presidential series on Zakaria’s GPS , Jul 13, 2008 (via  On The Issues)

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Homeland security must protect citizens, not intrude on them

Every democracy is tested when it is faced with a serious threat. As a nation we have to find the right balance between privacy and security, between executive authority to face threats and uncontrolled power. What protects us are the procedures we put in place to protect that balance, namely judicial warrants and congressional review. These are concrete safeguards to make sure surveillance hasn’t gone too far.

Source: In His Own Words, edited by Lisa Rogak, p. 99 , Mar 27, 2007

I wonder what Teh One will say this election year…

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Fourteen percent of the active-duty military and 17 percent of the National Guard and reserves are women. Although they are still barred from infantry and armor jobs, they are far from strictly rear-echelon support personnel. In Iraq and Afghanistan, 140 women have died, compared with eight during the Vietnam War.

Within the VA system this startling dichotomy reflects the times: The average male veteran who receives care is in his early 60s; the average age of female veterans is close to 40.

Grace After Fire

The mission of Grace After Fire is to provide the means for women Veterans to gain knowledge, insight and self-renewal. We serve to protect the Veteran, connect the woman Veteran and renew the woman Veteran.

They were there.  They came home.

They are still there.  They will come home.

They are our heroes too.

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Veterans groups object to Tricare fee increases

By Tom Philpott

A U.S. House subcommittee expected to vote soon on whether to recommend raising retiree Tricare fees sharply over the next five years heard some compelling testimony against the move Wednesday.

Retired Air Force Col. Steve Strobridge, co-chairman of The Military Coalition, a group of 34 military associations and veterans groups, traded debate points with Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, before the armed services panel on personnel.

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“They say military retirees pay far less for health care than civilians do,” Strobridge added. “Whenever somebody gives me that argument I ask: If the military deal was so great, are you willing to pay what they did to earn it? Would you sign up to spend the next 20 to 30 years being deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or any other garden spot the government want to send you to?,” he asked. “Military people pay far steeper premiums for health coverage than any civilian ever has or ever will.”

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“They blame the budget crunch but balk at changes to make the system significantly more efficient (by addressing) DOD’s fragmented health care systems. But the recent review made only minimal changes, in part because a key decision criterion was how hard the change would be. So the first choice was to make retirees pay more because it was easier,” he said.

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I so dislike politicians.

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Disabled Soldier Backlog Puts Army at Risk

March 26, 2012
Military.com|by Michael Hoffman

The backlog of soldiers too injured to serve is growing so large that it could affect the Army’s ability to go to war.

Army leaders plan to reduce the size of the service by 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers each year over the next decade, but that’s not counting the 20,500 troops Army doctors have declared unable to serve.

Budget cuts, combined with the end of the Iraq war and drawdown in Afghanistan, have forced the Army to cut end strength by 80,000 soldiers. The 20,500 soldiers tabbed to leave the service because of disabilities, however, still remain on the books.

The backlog is caused by failures in a system built to transition those soldiers out. Quite simply, Army doctors classify more soldiers as too injured to serve than the system can separate each year.

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The growing backlog puts the Army’s readiness at risk because the current end strength takes into account the number of injured soldiers getting ready to separate. The Army mans units at 110 percent so they can deploy at 90 percent of their authorized strength, said Col. Daniel Cassidy, the deputy commander of the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency.

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“We’ve advocated for a number of years that we really need to reform this. There’s only so much we can do within the constraints of this law that was created in 1949,” Cassidy said. “We have to reform this system.”

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What’s truly holding the Army medical command back is a lack of staffing. There are not enough doctors or physical evaluation board liaison officers, better known as PEBLOs, to process the soldiers.

The Army is adding 1,400 people this year to its disability evaluation staff, but it will take a while to train the new staff and make gains toward reducing the backlog.

Read it all here.

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Integrated Disability Evaluation System

Disability Evaluation Reforms Seen Falling Short (3/11)

STATEMENT BY RAYMOND F. CHANDLER III (2/11)  pg 8

…We continue to have problems, however, with the Integrated. Disability Evaluation System. The number of Soldiers enrolled in. Integrated Disability Evaluation …

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