Thursday, September 13, 2018

An Open Letter to America’s Senior Military Leaders

Via John


Dear Senior US Military Leaders:

You were born in the 1950’s and 1960’s and came of age in a US military wounded internally and psychologically from the effects of the Vietnam War, a war in which  US military forces fought bravely and competently, but were betrayed by the country that sent them to Southeast Asia.

Your mentors were all Vietnam veterans, who crawled out of the ashes and vowed to rebuild the military, in what was for many of them, a near holy crusade, a ‘hot blue flame’ that burned inside them every day on active duty.

You had a front row seat in the rebirth of the US military, which rose like a Phoenix in the sands of the Middle East in 1991, and which performed spectacularly, a performance which was a testament to the dedication of the men who led you, men who honored and maintained the military’s traditions – traditions and a way of life that are often juxtaposed to the civilian world.

You know what those traditions are:  Duty, Honor, Country…

Your duty – to do everything in your power to ensure that the military focuses on warfighting and nothing else.

Your honor – to do everything in your power to ensure that those who serve under you know that you care about the mission and the troops and not just about you.

You country – to do everything in your power to protect the nation you have sworn to defend, and most importantly, to serve as a buffer against the wayward and often destructive instincts of politicians and Beltway bureaucrats who wish to use the military as a social laboratory.

You know how generals and admirals are supposed to lead. You know what constitutes good leadership at all levels. You know what it takes to make the US military an efficient and lethal fighting force. You saw it rise to a majestic peak and then gradually fall into an abyss of diversity.

You know, and yet you have abandoned all pretense of your duty as senior officers, logic, common sense and intestinal fortitude to placate identity groups and diversity engineers that have never spent one day in uniform, much less one second in combat.

You know and yet you sit like stoic martinets, calculating your promotions, pensions and your future defense contractor salaries.

You have allowed the US military to become a social experiment; a feminized, weakened, PC force that is a shadow of its former toughness and greatness.

You continue to allow the US military to become nothing more than a leftist play land, while betting everything on the hope that our armed forces will never face a real enemy like the Chinese, the Russians or the North Koreans.

You have sold out the nation’s national defense and allowed the military’s operational tempo to decrease, all for the greater good of your careers.

You have allowed policies to be implemented and events to take place that I would have never thought possible while serving on active duty as a US Army officer.

From open homosexuality to transgenders on active duty to Mommy Rangers and breastfeeding support memorandums, you have stuck your heads in the sand as the military became nothing more than just a corporation with uniforms and C4.

You are undoubtedly well educated, and many of you hold multiple degrees.

Many of you served several combat tours and have an array of citations for meritorious service and valor that adorn your finely tailored uniforms.

There is no doubt that some of you have exhibited extraordinary courage in battle.

But, it is more than apparent that many of you left your courage on the battlefield, for you lack that one integral trait that all leaders must possess; moral courage, aka professional courage, aka the ability, as General MacArthur said, ‘to stand up in the storm;’ to say and do what you know is right, your careers and pensions be damned.

For some of you, it is not a matter of just lacking moral courage, but being loyal to a President no longer in office and a candidate who was soundly defeated in the last election. You so-called members of the ‘resistance’ in the Pentagon and across the military are traitors who have violated your oaths.

Others will argue, what could you do, what can you do? You were and are just following orders. But, there is no Fuehrerprinzip in the US military. There is no such thing as an order is an order.

It is your duty as senior officers to defend not only the nation, which you have sworn to serve, but the institutions themselves. It is your duty to question orders which you believe are detrimental and devastating to the military.

When did one member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ever resign in the last decade, in personal protest against the Obama administration’s destructive military policies, and the same policies which still linger today?

When did just one senior officer write even an anonymous OPED criticizing current military policy?
When did any of you ever lift a finger or utter one word of protest in what was being done to the US military?

Where were your voices of protest when male ROTC cadets were parading around college campuses in red high heels, when Senator Kirsten Gillibrand questioned you about the value of transgenders serving on active duty and women in combat, when standards disappeared overnight at the Special Forces Qualification Course, when the Marines’ Combat Endurance Test was no longer a graded event for future infantry officers, when army basic training dumped the grenade throw and land navigation…? Where were you when the lactation stations opened up at combat units across the world and male soldiers of the Big Red One conducted physical training in pregnancy simulators?

Where were you when senior leaders were railroaded out of the service for uttering the words, ‘sweetheart’, ‘faggot’ and the term ‘drunker than 10,000 Indians?’

Where were you? You were AWOL mentally and spiritually.

During the Gulf War in 1991, a young soldier told General Fred Franks, commander of VII Corps, ‘Don’t worry general, we trust you.’ Would anyone serving on active duty trust any of you? I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t follow any of you into water.

I believe you are the worst generation of American senior military leadership in our long and glorious history, bar none.

Last week, a retired US Army officer and Vietnam veteran asked me, “Isn’t there just one senior leader in uniform who has the guts to say what needs to be said?”

The answer is no.

Ray Starmann
Editor in Chief
US Defense Watch

Rand Paul ramps up his alliance with Trump

 
 “I Have Defended The President & Will Continue To”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has defended President Trump on some of his most controversial moves, going against the prevailing sentiment of the libertarian movement with which he and his father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), have long been identified.

Some of the most libertarian-leaning members of Congress, such as Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), have served as forceful critics of Trump within the GOP. But Rand Paul, who prefers the mantle of constitutional conservative to libertarian, has repeatedly offered Trump a stirring defense.

More @ The Hill

Graham to renew call for second special counsel

 Graham to renew call for second special counsel

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Thursday that he would renew a call for an independent counsel to investigate Republican allegations of bias at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI.

Graham claimed in an interview with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham that a text message exchange between two former FBI officials focused on by House Republicans “is just one of a series of events that scream for a special counsel.”

More @ The Hill

Hue April 14, 1969

Vi Ty Tran

[Photos] Walk the Streets of 1965 Da Nang

 

Given how fast Vietnam's major cities change, and it can be hard to imagine what they looked like in decades past.

Thankfully plenty of old photos of these areas exist. In this collection curated by Flickr user mannhai, Bruce Tester and Bob Curry depict life in Da Nang in 1965.

The photos show a mostly quiet, low-slung small city on the banks of the Han River. The people in these images would likely hardly recognize Da Nang today, with its seafront resorts, striking bridges and growing clutch of high-rises.

More @ Saigoneer

Mule Breeding

 

“Why don’t you get a tractor? You could get more done.”

“Don’t need more done.”

“But you could get it done faster.”

“Faster than what?”

“Faster than that mule goes.” The Yankee machine man really wanted to sell this down-south farm boy a tractor on account of the boy seemed to really be struggling with the mule (whom the boy sometimes called, Gee, and sometimes called Haw, the Yankee wondering why the down-south boy wanted to confuse the mule with multiple names) that was a bit pitiful in the Yankee’s eyes considering he (the mule) was constantly flicking horseflies or mosquitos or various sorts of flying bugs off his ears, not to mention his slow pace–even going so far as stopping once in a while without having been so instructed.

Orban and Farage stand up to George Soros and his EU Parliament cronies


Ann Coulter and Tucker Carlson call out chemical weapons hoaxes in Syria

Dalai Lama To Migrants: ‘Europe Belongs To The Europeans’

Via Billy
  Image result for Dalai Lama To Migrants: ‘Europe Belongs To The Europeans’

The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet said Wednesday that, while Europe can help refugees, “Europe belongs to the Europeans” and migrants should rebuild their homelands.

The Dalai Lama made the comments at a conference in Malmo, Sweden, which has struggled with an increase in rape and violent crimes correlating to an increase in refugees from Syria and other predominantly Muslim countries. The Dalai Lama argued that European countries were “morally responsible” for assisting “a refugee really facing danger against their life,” but that refugees should ultimately go back and rebuild their home countries.

Illegals Crossing At The Chilton Ranch & 25 Minutes Of Illegal Aliens Crossing Into The US



China promotes anti-Trump book

 Chinese propaganda outlets have provided extensive coverage of Bob Woodward's latest book, "Fear," which criticizes the Trump administration. (Associated Press)

China’s government propaganda outlets are actively promoting the anti-President Trump book released this week by Washington Post writer Bob Woodward, called “Fear.”

Two days after excerpts of the book were published, major Chinese state-run propaganda outlets, including China Central Television (CCTV), ran extensive reports on the book on Sept. 6

Kerry Meeting With Iran to Salvage Nuke Deal With Rogue Diplomacy

Via David

John Kerry and Javad Zarif

Former Secretary of State John Kerry disclosed that he has been conducting rogue diplomacy with top Iranian officials to salvage the landmark nuclear deal and push the Islamic Republic to negotiate its contested missile program, according to recent remarks.

Kerry, in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt to promote his new book, said that he has met with Iranian Former Minister Javad Zarif—the former secretary's onetime negotiating partner—three or four times in recent months behind the Trump administration's back.

US Open Umpire Carlos Ramos Breaks Silence After Serena Williams Debacle; Officials Reportedly Considering Boycott Of Williams' Matches

Serena Williams of the United States argues with umpire Carlos Ramos after her defeat in the Women's Singles finals match to Naomi Osaka of Japan on Day Thirteen of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 8, 2018

The US Open's women's finals on Saturday took a political turn when second place finisher Serena Williams went apoplectic over controversial calls against her by umpire Carlos Ramos, whom she absurdly smeared as a sexist.

While Williams was immediately backed by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and hailed as a hero by countless feminists and the establishment media, Ramos kept quiet, as International Tennis Federation (ITF) rules bar umpires from commenting on their matches.

Weather Forecast

 Image result for florence
 
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane-central/AL062018 (Enlarges)

Category 2 @ 100 when it hits Wilmington, Category 1 @ 75 when it hits Myrtle Beach, then a Tropical Storm @ 50 when it enters Florence and afterwards a Tropical Depression when it hits Sumter National Park.