Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Obama needs to invite the SEAL’s and the Tango to the White House for a beer to make it all better.
Even after being acquitted, there will be left a muddy splash on the dress whites of the SpecWar community. If WunWhoWon thinks making decision popular with the people is important, then he has yet to learn a couple of lessons:
1. Americans don’t approve of having their troops harangued and prosecuted.
2. Capturing prisoners is a perishable skill, affected in large measure by the level of toxicity created in the wartime environment by the reigning Administration.
Have we said WunWhoWon is a bright student? One wonders how much so?
You need to add “persecuted” to the list. We don’t want them criminally charged for nonsense.
Unfortunately, it’s the REMF types that are causing these problems. I’d like to know who the convening authority is. That’s the one that needs to be taken down.
Let’s use a new term…Ultimate REMFs….UREMFs….for the political crowd, specifically, those who decide, but never decided to wear a uniform.
Have we said WunWhoWon is a bright student? One wonders how much so?
I’m as game for bashing the current President as the next guy, but I’ve seen absolutely no evidence that he had anything to do with the decision to press charges against these troops. Seriously, do you really think the CinC was advised that 3 troops were gonna face mast?
No, there’s a problem here, but it isn’t a political problem. It’s a problem in the services.
XBrad, I’m in the same boat as you, and while I don’t think the WunWhoWon is driving this, it’s happening on his watch, under his command, and by folks he can order to put an end to it.
Which I take to mean either he hasn’t heard, or hasn’t acted. Neither of these bodes well for our CINC, our troops, or for that matter the chances of further prisoners being taken alive.
Which, in the case of people bearing arms without uniform, chain of command, fighting for their pithy little cause-du-jour I’m not particularly upset. For men and women in uniformed military forces, including and most specifically our own, I’m a tad upset.
Who would have ever thought there would be a day when suicide and surrendering to American troops seemed equivalent actions? Yet that is exactly what this will bring about if it is not stopped immediately.
As for Elliott Miller, well, even I can find no words to express my admiration for him.
And I’m a long-winded SOB so that’s saying something!
– Max
It was all Bush’s fault. You know, with a word from “above,” this could all disappear, like a mere dream, and now we woke up and it wasn’t real.
No one is speaking from above. That alone conveys a message, especially since they made a point of violating sound legal practice by already announcing the KSM and posse would not get off. Compare and contrast…and about cops and professors…
They choose which legal battles to pay attention to, even the seemingly small ones.
XBrad, you don’t seem to understand. While the current POTUS may not be driving this, he doesn’t have too. After decades of beig drenched in Multi-culti PC and “White Guilt”the command structure of each and every branch of the armed services have by now thoroughly intenalized these values and use them as the conceptual lens thru which they now view the world. Higher levels of command are also painfully aware of the speed and scope with which information is now spread in the digital age (think Abu Grhab) so the command reflex is now a “better safe than sorry” charge first, ask questions later, SOP. After all, think those higher up the food chain, no skin off OUR noses–especially if we “Barny Fife-it,” before it travels up our way, right? (Nip It, Nip it in the Bud!)
No, you’re totally correct, XBRad, the current POTUS is totally unconnected to this. He doesn’t have to be. The armed forces now well know their place and are only too willing to conform to the PC outlook of their leftist masters unbidded.
But Mongo, if the WunWhoWon knows our limitations so well that he freely explains them to the rest of the world, how can he not know his own?
Ah. We see so clearly through through the window that which is invisible in the mirror.
SEALs don’t quit.
Thank God for that.
XBrad: The man gets Intel briefings daily, at a minimum, and I’d think something this sensitive would be brought to his attention.
As for being a Service problem, point taken. Micro-management at any level sucks.
Mongo:
Thus far the POTUS has done exactly what he should with reference to the charges against three Petty Officers accused of giving a prisoner a set of lumps.
Which is to say, nothing.
The Petty Officers were accused of an offense against the UCMJ. They have a right to decline non judicial punishment and demand court martial. They exercised it.
A court martial is being convened. The mission of the court is to examine the charges in light of the law, the evidence, and the testimony and attempt as best they can to independently determine the facts.
Unless and until the court determines that the charges are true beyond a reasonable doubt, the accused are innocent of all charges.
The POTUS is not involved.
No one’s interest, much less the interest
of justice, is served by setting one’s hair on fire and running about screaming.
Take a breath. Take a seat. Wait.
My goodness that is motivating:
‘“(SEALs) would rather die than quit,” Jadchew said.’
Best regards, Peter Warner.
Well, I did a ‘park butt and STFU’, and now here’s a bit of what’s starting to emerge: Punishing the SEALS
So much for keeping micromanagement out of the White House toolbox.
I guess we’ll have to see how much background there is to support the assumption.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” – Edmund Burke.
If POTUS and the chain of command wished to show they were good men, all they had to do was act.
And asking for a court-martial rather than have it handled at mast? Generally speaking, that’s done when you know your command structure is looking to score points and you don’t think you can get a fair hearing. Or if you really screwed up and are hoping the less lenient rules of evidence might result in the prosecution being unable to prove its case. Either way, it’s in your service record, and you will have a career change rather than promotion to look forward to.
But it shows a lack of faith in the chain, in the leadership. That is a serious problem.
– Max