Wednesday July 16th, 2014
"It Is Not A
Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong
That Counts."
--Geoff
Metcalf
Updated 0918 PST
World
& National
Israel warns 100,000 Gaza civilians to evacuate as strikes intensify
After the Hamas
rejected ceasefire, forcing Jerusalem to resume fire, Israel has now
vowed to continue with its Operation Protective Edge until it was in
complete control of the Gaza Strip, said Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman in a press conference as per the Haaretz.
Israeli
military sources have reportedly warned 100,000 Gazans to evacuate the
area as Israel is set to intensify strikes in wake of the ceasfire
collapse.
"This morning,
we dropped leaflets warning civilians in Gaza to move away from Hamas
terrorists before IDF strikes," the Army said.
Feds to Open $50 Million Resort for Illegals
Welcome to America!
The Obama administration has awarded a $50 million contract to a
charitable group to buy a Texas resort hotel and transform it in to a
600 bed facility for juvenile illegal aliens.
The beautiful Palm Aire resort and hotel has an indoor Olympic sized
pool and an outdoor pool. Free Wi-Fi and cable TV are included in the
simply decorated guest rooms.
The Palm Aire Hotel and Suites is set to be sold to Baptist Child &
Family Services (BCFS) operating under a federal contract, pending local
government approval, according to reports from Weslaco, Texas where the
hotel is located. Weslaco is a few miles north of the Rio Grande in
Hidalgo County.
The resort hotel for illegal alien children is reportedly the ‘first in the nation’.
Homeless Upset with LA Mayor
House Dems push Amnesty for Illegals: 'America's Doors are Open
Most Americans Give Obama Failing Grade on Immigration Crisis
Nearly 6 out of every 10 Americans disapprove of the way that President
Barack Obama is handling the influx of illegal immigrants into the
United States, a new poll shows.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll reveals that 58 percent of Americans,
including 54 percent of Latinos, are disappointed with his policies on
the surge of thousands of undocumented immigrants, many of them
children, across the southern border.
Only 1 in 3 Americans, 33 percent, say they support the actions that
Obama is taking to prevent the floods of illegals and the resulting
humanitarian crisis.
The results are seen as a political setback for Obama who was re-elected
two years ago with 71 percent support from Latino voters, according to
The Washington Post.
Maryland Gov. O'Malley Refuses to Shelter Border Kids
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has angered the White House by balking at
plans to shelter illegal immigrant children at a facility in his state,
Politico reported.
The Democratic governor, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, told
the Obama administration that it should not send any undocumented kids
to an empty former Army Reserves Center in Westminster, Maryland.
His request came just hours after he had warned the government that
deporting unaccompanied children would be sending them home to "certain
death."
Cheney: Obama Is 'The Worst President Of My Lifetime'
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born in 1941, thinks
President Barack Obama is the country's worst commander-in-chief of his
lifetime.
"I think he is the worst president of my lifetime. I fundamentally
disagree with him. I think he's doing a lot of things wrong," Cheney
said Tuesday on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
Cheney made the critical remarks when he was asked about former vice
presidential candidate Sarah Palin's call for Obama's impeachment.
Cheney said such efforts would be a "distraction" but praised Speaker
John Boehner's lawsuit against the president.
"Jimmy Carter might have been a better president than Barack Obama, and I didn't think I'd ever say that," said Cheney.
CDC chief: Anthrax gaffe 'should never have happeneded'
How could one of the world's most prestigious public health agencies
mishandle live anthrax and unknowingly contaminate other specimens with a
dangerous strain of bird flu?
That question was at the core of a hearing Wednesday before an oversight
subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Subcommittee chairman Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., said issues of lab safety
appear to be systemic at CDC, based on numerous reports issued by
government watchdogs over the years. He called the most recent incident
at the agency "sloppy" and "inexcusable."
UK Police Arrest 660 Suspected Pedophiles
UK police have arrested 660 alleged pedophiles following a six-month
investigation. The suspects include doctors, teachers, scout leaders,
care workers and former police officers.
The UK’s National Crime Agency said Wednesday that the operation
occurred across the UK and involved 45 separate police forces. The
agency estimated that over 400 children have been protected as a result.
The operation, which was kept secret until the arrests were made,
involved targeting those accessing pedophilic images online. A total of
39 of those arrested were registered sex offenders though the vast
majority was unknown to the police. Those who have been charged are
accused of a range of crimes, from possessing indecent images of
children to serious sexual abuse.
Assad inaugurated to 3rd term
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared victory over those
who had sought to overthrow him as he embarked Wednesday on a third term
in office, buoyed by a growing extremist threat in the region that has
helped cement his hold on power.
With extremists rampaging across neighboring Iraq and the focus of
Western powers shifting to containing terrorism, a relaxed and confident
Assad made it clear that he no longer perceives a challenge to his
14-year-old presidency, now extended by another seven years after a
tightly controlled election last month.
Addressing lawmakers and officials at his inauguration, Assad said that
the carnage unleashed by the Syrian war proved right his warning that
the revolt against him was a terrorist conspiracy and that those who
supported the efforts to oust him will suffer consequences.
CBO Report: Deficit to Skyrocket to Historic World War II Highs
The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that the federal deficit
will skyrocket in coming years to levels unseen since World War II, even
though the White House reported last week that the deficit this year
was at its lowest of the Obama presidency.
"Deficits are projected to rise steadily and, by 2039, to push federal
debt held by the public up to a percentage of GDP seen only once before
in U.S. history," just after World War II, the nonpartisan agency said
in a report issued Tuesday, according to Politico.
Sens. Ayotte, Fischer: Stop Distorting Hobby Lobby Decision
Nothing in the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling denies a woman access
to birth control, and attempts to misrepresent the facts of the case and
its impact on women are divisive and damaging, say New Hampshire Sen.
Kelly Ayotte and Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer.
In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, the Republican
lawmakers say that the decision was less about restricting birth control
and more about upholding America's "centuries-old tradition of
religious liberty."
"In the days since the Supreme Court's June 30 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby
decision, we have been troubled by those who seem eager to misrepresent
both the facts of the case and the impact of its ruling on women — all
to divide Americans and score political points in a tough election
year," the women wrote.
Global 'tranquility', Obama-style
The pablum from the White House is beginning to turn stomachs
If anyone needs further evidence the White House is out touch with
reality, it came in an official statement this week that President Obama
has made the world a more tranquil place.
This was the White House’s exaggerated response to a well-documented,
front-page Wall Street Journal story that concluded, “the breadth of
global instability now unfolding hasn’t been seen since the late 1970s.”
The article also charged that under this administration, “U.S. global power seems increasingly tenuous.”
Republicans exercise in futility
Suing, impeaching Obama would be counterproductive
Whenever Democrats are in real trouble politically, the Republicans seem
to come up with something new that distracts the public’s attention
from the Democrats’ problems. Who says Republicans are not
compassionate?
With public opinion polls showing President Obama’s sinking approval
rate, in the wake of his administration’s multiple fiascoes and scandals
— the disgraceful treatment of veterans who need medical care, the
Internal Revenue Service cover-ups, the tens of thousands of children
flooding across our open border — Republicans have created two new
distractions that may yet draw attention away from the Democrats’
troubles.
Medal of
Honor
The
Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action
against an
enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving
in the
Armed Services of the United States.
GeneTrerally presented
to its recipient by the President of the
United States of America in the name of Congress.
The
first award of the Medal of Honor was made March 25, 1863 to
Private
JACOB PARROTT.The last award of the Medal of Honor was made
September 15, 2011
to Sergeant DAKOTA MEYER.
Since
then there have been: •
3458 recipients of the Medal of Honor.
•
Today there are 85 Living Recipients of the
Medal of Honor.
CARPENTER, WILLIAM KYLE
Rank: Lance Corporal
U.S. Marine Corps
Citation
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above
and beyond the call of duty while serving as an Automatic Rifleman with
Company F, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st
Marine Division (Forward), 1 Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), in
Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom
on 21 November 2010. Lance Corporal Carpenter was a member of a
platoon-sized coalition force, comprised of two reinforced Marine
squads partnered with an Afghan National Army squad. The platoon had
established Patrol Base Dakota two days earlier in a small village in
the Marjah District in order to disrupt enemy activity and provide
security for the local Afghan population. Lance Corporal Carpenter and
a fellow Marine were manning a rooftop security position on the
perimeter of Patrol Base Dakota when the enemy initiated a daylight
attack with hand grenades, one of which landed inside their sandbagged
position. Without hesitation, and with complete disregard for his own
safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved toward the grenade in an attempt
to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast. When the grenade
detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding
him, but saving the life of his fellow Marine. By his undaunted
courage, bold fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the
face of almost certain death, Lance Corporal Carpenter reflected great
credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine
Corps and the United States Naval Service.
From the Archives
Let Slip the Dogs of War.
On a Short Leash?
By Geoff Metcalf
November 5, 2003
"Vivacity, leadership, must be had, and we are not allowed to be nice in choosing.
We must fetch the pump with dirty water, if clean cannot be had."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I love the
Army. Metcalfs have served in the Army since before we officially had
one. However, I am apoplectic over the chairborne- politically correct
cancer-brain flatulence, which reportedly intends to excoriate Lt. Col.
Allen B. West for doing his job and saving lives.
The Army has
myopically filed a criminal assault charge against an American officer
who coerced an Iraqi into providing information that foiled a planned
attack on U.S. soldiers.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20031028-113335-6042r.htm.
Col. West did
not torture or physically harm the Iraqi detainee. He did used
psychological pressure to scare the snot out of the bad guy. And it
worked! After twice firing his service weapon away from the wannabe
terrorist (who was an Iraqi police officer) the detainee talked and
gave up the information on a planned attack.
Lives were
saved and now some uniformed bureaucrats back in the rear with the gear
want to destroy the life of a combat leader. It is enough to gag
maggots.
When Tom
Clancy's Jack Ryan interrogates a bad guy working with terrorists by
shooting him in the arms and legs we cheered. When an Army officer
scares an enemy in a combat zone with a loud noise they want to nail
him to a wall?
The same kind
of politically correct desk jockey types who are Jonesing to put women
in combat, neuter fighter jocks, and impose rules of engagement for a
cricket club instead of barbaric 13th century guerrillas, now seek to
destroy an exceptionally effective combat leader. What is wrong with
this picture?
Col. West was with the 4th Infantry occupying areas around Tikrit
(Saddam's hometown)…a real bad neighborhood infested with bad guys
intent on killing him and his troops.
An informant reported that there was an assassination plot against Col. West.
The informant told the soldiers that one person involved in the attack was a town policeman.
Col West had the policeman detained but interrogators couldn't get anything of substance out of him.
FM22-100 (the
Army leadership manual) notes that, "Leaders are responsible for the
welfare, discipline and tactical deployment of their troops."
Col. West wrote
in an email, "I asked for soldiers to accompany me and told them we had
to gather information and that it could get ugly…"
He said his soldiers "physically aggress[ed]" the prisoner. Apparently they pushed him around.
After the pushing around failed, Col. West says he brandished his pistol.
"I did use my 9 mm weapon to threaten him and fired it twice. Once I
fired into the weapons clearing barrel…and the next time I did it while
having his head close to the barrel. I fired away from him. I stood in
between the firing and his person.
He said, "I admit that what I did was not right but it was done with
the concern of the safety of my soldiers and myself." I disagree. Given
the results…that saved lives, his actions were both appropriate and
effective.
Unlike many
politicians and corporate types with less honor and character he did
not try to cover up or hide what he did. He informed his superior of
his actions.
The incident resulted in the bad guy providing the location of the planned sniper attack and the names of three guerrillas.
If Col West had
waited for the ambush and shot and killed the Iraqi cop, no harm/no
foul. However, because he 'scared' him with an implied threat of force
'preemptively', the Army wants to destroy his life and blow off over 19
years of superior dedicated service? For what…implementing 'The Bush
Doctrine' down to Battalion level?
His wife, said,
"My husband is a top-of-the-line officer. My husband is an
African-American. He has had to overcome a number of things to get
where he is."
Col. West is
prepared to "…accept being retired at the grade of major and paying
whatever fine required, but resignation and prison seems an attempt to
destroy me,"…BULLFEATHERS! Now, more than ever, we NEED officers like
this man.
The Army's
division of political correctness doesn't like West's interrogation
tactic. An Article 32 hearing has been scheduled lead to the
court-martial and a potential prison term of eight years. They should
have given him a medal and promotion.
Some soldiers
are hinky about the Army's drive to punish the officer for an
interrogation technique that probably is used regularly to get
information from terrorists.
There ARE
consequences to what we do and don't do. For a military struggling with
morale, recruiting and retention issues to do what they are to Col.
West WILL exact a cost. It is a cost we cannot and should not be forced
to endure.
Woodrow Wilson
observed," Leadership does not always wear the harness of
compromise…Men of strenuous minds and high ideals come forward.... The
attacks they sustain are more cruel than the collision of arms....
Friends desert and despise them.... They stand alone and oftentimes are
made bitter by their isolation...."
Please don't allow Col. West to "stand alone." Spread the word. There IS an election around the corner.
