Branco’s page is Cartoonist A.F.Branco

Recently, a US military squad on an Intel mission got pinned down by Taliban machine gun fire in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.  One soldier has uploaded his helmet cam video of the firefight.

The soldier moved out into the open in order to protect, and possibly save, his unit.

“I got a hit a total of 4 times. My helmet cam died and i made it down the mountain on my own. I was also hit in the side of my helmet and my eye pro was shot off of my face. We were doing overwatch on the village to recon and gather intel. I was point heading down the face of the hill with the LT. when we got hit. the rest of the squad was pinned down by machine gun fire. I didn’t start the video until a few mins into the firefight for obvious reasons. I came out into the open to draw fire so my squad could get to safety.”

“A round struck the tube by my hand of the 203 grenade launcher which knocked it out of my hands. When I picked the rifle back up it was still functional but the grenade launcher tube had a nice sized 7.62 cal bullet hole in it and was rendered useless.”

More information about this soldier will be provided as it becomes available and/or public.

___

LTG William B. Caldwell

Several US military officers accused a US commander in Afghanistan of trying to cover up a scandal at a US-funded hospital in Kabul beginning in 2010. Speaking to the Congressional Committee of Oversight, the officers told lawmakers that they were discouraged by Lt General William Caldwell from reporting concern about the hospital. The implication given the officers was that such revelations could harm President Obama politically.

The US officers began noting concerns about misuse of funds from the Afghan Dawood National Military Hospital and lack of appropriate treatment offered to wounded Afghan soldiers in 2010. The United States government spent more than $150 Million in 18 months on the hospital in an effort to help the Afghans properly care for their wounded soldiers. The testifying officers have alleged that money was embezzled, medications hoarded including surgeries done without medicines. Some Afghan soldiers died of malnutrition at the hospital, in conditions that one retired Army colonel described as “Auschwitz-like.”

AFP/Yahoo News: “The general did not want bad news to leave his command before the election – or AFTER the election,” Colonel Gerald Carozza, Jr., a now-retired US Army judge advocate, said in written testimony to the House Committee on Oversight.

“The general, like too many generals, was too concerned about the message, creating a stifling climate for those who had to deal with the reality,” Carozza said, comparing Dawood to the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.

In addition to the political implications there also was evidence of a cover up as evidenced by a memo introduced by House Panel Chair, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.

The Blaze: Chaffetz introduced a Sept. 12, 2011, memo from the training command that he described as an attempt to destroy evidence. The memo ordered destruction or deletion of unofficial audio and video recordings and photos of patients and conditions at the hospital.

“Under no circumstances will they be shared outside of this command, transmitted via email, posted to the internet, or duplicated in any way without prior approval of the Command Surgeon….” the memo said.

The following report from CNN’s Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr shares more details of this terrible situation. Please note: The video contains some graphic images.

Embedded ABC journalist Muhammad Lila witnesses first hand the chaos that erupts within the Afghan troops when they are ambushed by the Taliban. Read the encounter here or watch the shorter version on the video below:

Reports are unclear as to the exact source of the disagreement, but witnesses have said that the British soldiers visited a  Nahr-e-Saraj checkpoint for a scheduled meeting, gotten into  a heated argument with the Afghani and as the victims walked away, they were fired upon by the allied police officer.

Four servicemen were hit. All were given first aid at the scene, but only one survives and is said to be in stable condition. The shooter was also shot, but not killed. The Taliban almost immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The assailant has been identified as a member of the Afghan National Civil Order Police, a special unit set up  to help deal with insurgents and enforce the law in towns and villages. ANCOP elite membership is more heavily-vetted before receiving more intensive training – a strategic linchpin in the U.S. strategy to exit the region by 2014.

….This post will be inspected by the US Department Of Homeland Security, I’m sure.  Because the words listed below raise “red flags” when used on the internet.

So, don’t talk about the illegal immigrant who gave you a denial of service at the deli when you wanted a pork sandwich….. just saying.

Download Full Document here: http://t-j.cc/KIKNMn

TERRORISM
Terrorism, Al Qaeda (all spellings), Terror, Attack, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Agro, Environmental terrorist, Eco terrorism, Conventional weapon, Target, Weapons grade, Dirty bomb, Enriched, Nuclear, Chemical weapon, Biological weapon, Ammonium nitrate, Improvised explosive device, IED (Improvised Explosive Device), Abu Sayyaf, Hamas, FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia), IRA (Irish Republican Army), ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna), Basque Separatists, Hezbollah, Tamil Tigers, PLF (Palestine Liberation Front), PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), Car bomb, Jihad, Taliban, Weapons cache, Suicide bomber, Suicide attack, Suspicious substance, AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula), AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan), Yemen, Pirates, Extremism, Somalia, Nigeria, Radicals, Al-Shabaab, Home grown Plot, Nationalist, Recruitment, Fundamentalism, Islamist

WEATHER/DISASTER/EMERGENCY
Emergency, Hurricane, Tornado, Twister, Tsunami, Earthquake, Tremor, Flood, Storm, Crest, Temblor, Extreme weather, Forest fire, Brush fire, Ice, Stranded/Stuck, Help, Hail, Wildfire, Tsunami Warning Center, Magnitude, Avalanche, Typhoon, Shelter-in-place, Disaster, Snow, Blizzard, Sleet, Mud slide or Mudslide, Erosion, Power outage, Brown out, Warning, Watch, Lightening, Aid, Relief, Closure, Interstate, Burst, Emergency Broadcast System

CYBER SECURITY
Cyber security, Botnet, DDOS (dedicated denial of service), Denial of service, Malware, Virus, Trojan, Keylogger, Cyber Command, 2600, Spammer, Phishing, Rootkit, Phreaking, Cain and abel, Brute forcing, Mysql injection, Cyber attack, Cyber terror, Hacker, China, Conficker, Worm, Scammers, Social media

DOMESTIC SECURITY
Assassination, Attack, Domestic security, Drill, Exercise, Cops, Law enforcement, Authorities, Disaster assistance, Disaster management, DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office), National preparedness, Mitigation, Prevention, Response, Recovery, Dirty bomb, Domestic nuclear detection, Emergency management, Emergency response, First responder, Homeland security, Maritime domain awareness (MDA), National preparedness initiative, Militia, Shooting, Shots fired, Evacuation, Deaths, Hostage, Explosion (explosive), Police, Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT), Organized crime, Gangs, National security, State of emergency, Security, Breach, Threat, Standoff, SWAT, Screening, Lockdown, Bomb (squad or threat), Crash, Looting, Riot, Emergency Landing, Pipe bomb, Incident, Facility

HAZMAT & NUCLEAR
Hazmat, Nuclear, Chemical spill, Suspicious package/device, Toxic, National laboratory, Nuclear facility, Nuclear threat, Cloud, Plume, Radiation, Radioactive, Leak, Biological infection (or event), Chemical, Chemical burn, Biological, Epidemic, Hazardous, Hazardous material incident, Industrial spill, Infection, Powder (white), Gas, Spillover, Anthrax, Blister agent, Chemical agent, Exposure, Burn, Nerve agent, Ricin, Sarin, North Korea

HEALTH CONCERN + H1N1
Outbreak, Contamination, Exposure, Virus, Evacuation, Bacteria, Recall, Ebola, Food Poisoning, Foot and Mouth (FMD), H5N1, Avian, Flu, Salmonella, Small Pox, Plague, Human to human, Human to Animal, Influenza, Center for Disease Control (CDC), Drug Administration (FDA), Public Health, Toxic, Agro Terror, Tuberculosis (TB), Agriculture, Listeria, Symptoms, Mutation, Resistant, Antiviral, Wave, Pandemic, Infection, Water/air borne, Sick, Swine, Pork, Strain, Quarantine, H1N1, Vaccine, Tamiflu, Norvo Virus, Epidemic, World Health Organization (WHO) (and components), Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, E. Coli

INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY
Infrastructure security, Airport, Airplane (and derivatives), Chemical fire, CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources), AMTRAK, Collapse, Computer infrastructure, Communications infrastructure, Telecommunications, Critical infrastructure, National infrastructure, Metro, WMATA, Subway, BART, MARTA, Port Authority, NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center), Transportation security, Grid, Power, Smart, Body scanner, Electric, Failure or outage, Black out, Brown out, Port, Dock, Bridge, Cancelled, Delays, Service disruption, Power lines

SOUTHWEST BORDER VIOLENCE
Drug cartel, Violence, Gang, Drug, Narcotics, Cocaine, Marijuana, Heroin, Border, Mexico, Cartel, Southwest, Juarez, Sinaloa, Tijuana, Torreon, Yuma, Tucson, Decapitated, U.S. Consulate, Consular, El Paso, Fort Hancock, San Diego, Ciudad Juarez, Nogales, Sonora, Colombia, Mara salvatrucha, MS13 or MS-13, Drug war, Mexican army, Methamphetamine, Cartel de Golfo, Gulf Cartel, La Familia, Reynosa, Nuevo Leon, Narcos, Narco banners (Spanish equivalents), Los Zetas, Shootout, Execution, Gunfight, Trafficking, Kidnap, Calderon, Reyosa, Bust, Tamaulipas, Meth Lab, Drug trade, Illegal immigrants, Smuggling (smugglers), Matamoros, Michoacana, Guzman, Arellano-Felix, Beltran-Leyva, Barrio Azteca, Artistic Assassins, Mexicles, New Federation

I was an unabashed neoconservative who supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq until I saw, as William F. Buckley aptly pointed out, how this movement grossly underestimates American power.  This was evident in the negligence in the post-war Iraqi reconstruction operations that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government. The planning of the entire reconstruction effort, outlined in National Security Presidential Directive 24 issued in January 2003, gave the Department of Defense complete authority over the post-war operations.  It’s absurd.  Rebuilding Iraq into a modern, free market democracy in three months or less.  No wonder chaos ensued.  This whole notion of liberal democracy proliferating throughout the Middle East, in a region with no historical precedent of such values, is mind numbingly naive.

Even with our involvement winding down in Iraq, it appears the only winner is Iran since we’ve weakened the only nation in the region to curb its growing influence.  The resilience of the new democracy in Iraq and its disposition towards the United States in the future remains to be seen.  However, Syria is still holding out from the so-called “Arab Spring,” Iran still has nuclear ambitions, which would set off a regional arms race, and Egypt has fallen prey to the radical Muslim Brotherhood after we threw our good friend, Hosni Mubarak, under the bus in the hopes that a vibrant democracy will emerge there. Is this our dividend after spending $700 billion in Iraq?  Was this the best use of American political and military resources?

America’s destructive lack a realism is becoming disastrously expensive and straining our military.  Afghanistan and Iraq has cost us a whopping $1.2 trillion dollars in war expenditures.  We could be facing a $4-6 trillion dollar price tag when this whole ordeal is over.  We need to reexamine our financial stability and national interest for future engagements.

Case in point, Libya had nothing to do with American interests.  We do not receive oil from Libya. We don’t have diplomatic relations with Libya.  It was a civil war that was none of our business in a tribal society whose various clans hated Qaddafi more than each, hence the fragile display of national unity.  Like in Iraq, civil institutions were derived from one man and his family creating a power vacuum that will lead to more bloodshed.  The various militias refuse to disarmand the eastern half of the country has declared autonomy.  Did we really stop a slaughter? I feel more bloodshed will ensue because of our reckless engagement in their affairs.

People die in war, especially in the brutal theater of civil war.  Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean it’s our business. Especially when we have become involved in tribal societies before with little success.  We realists do not deny the existence of moral truths and principles, but when applied in the anarchic field of international relations, it is inherently dangerous.  It thrusts a nation, whose only purpose is to survive, into entanglements that are diplomatically obtuse, detrimental to its interests, and leads to prolonging the conflict.

If Qaddafi had squashed the insurrectionists in Benghazi, it would have been over, but we intervened, allied ourselves with rebel elements affiliated with al-Qaeda, and escalated the civil war leading to more deaths. In Somalia, our intervention culminated in the infamous Black Hawk Down incident, despite the fact it was hopeless from the start. There was no government to open up a diplomatic channel, no infrastructure, and clan ties that prevented national unity.  We lost nineteen American soldiers to help feed people in a failed state. A tragic waste of American resources.

The era of nation-building and humanitarian interventions need to end.   If our criteria for involvement is humanitarian based, we will be in a perpetual state of war.  The essence of nation-building, as George Will rightly said on Charlie Rose, is oxymoronic since it’s an organic entity that take generations to perfect.  Just because American marines are on the ground, doesn’t mean the maturation process will be accelerated.  In all, these attempts at social engineering are textbook cases of the irresponsible and arduous tasks that have drained American power over the past decade.  I’m thankful that a growing consensus in this country is starting to view such ventures as nonsensical.  It’s simply not worth the cost.

No Time magazine covers of injured soldiers? New Y0rk Times interviews with Afghanistan civilians? No huge stories on torture, Gitmo or any of the other activities that have not stopped during the Presidency of Barack Obama despite his promises?

The impeachment of the American media is incomplete. While many have asked about the rush to judgement in the Treyvon Martin shooting, the lack of honesty from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, there is more that is oddly missing and unjust.

Remember this video from CNN when we had a real President?

When was the last 60 minutes story on the fighting in the Middle East?

While CBS news is covering Pizza Hut creations in the region there is no riveting TV coverage of the fighting in the tribal regions of Afghanistan.

Is it the quiet cover for the sitting President that no one objects to? Sure, there are printed stories and 10 second quick-cover stories, but where are the every day battering of the American population with war footage that happened during a Republican presidency?

There is the current Administration’s disdain of Bush’s “unilateral” action in the region despite the press coverage of British successes and the more than 25 nations involved in the conflict. The media and re-historians even paint President George H.W. Bush as a fascist.

The previous White House also sought the approval of Congress for military actions as outlined by U.S. law – a process the Obama Administration has waved off, ignored and spoken against. Why Congress is not more inflamed that their part in our government has been lessened is unfathomable, questionable and possibly impeachable.

Congress has forgotten our fighting men and women. The press could care less about them. When it is not politically advantageous to do so, the most brave are forgotten – where is the combat footage?

The main stream media cover for the Democrat administration is not as obvious as many point out – in many cases, it is as simple as forgetting to report what’s actually going on because it suits an end.. by any means.

As we near Memorial Day, it is a behavior that Americans must deplore, outrage against and decide whether those networks deserve their time and money.

Yep, American forces in Afghanistan until 2024 – that is, if some Afghan leaders get their way.

The US is negotiating a deal with the Afghan government, among others, to determine just how long our troops will remain in the country of Afghanistan.  According to The Daily Telegraph, the current agreement would allow more than just military trainers to stay for training the Afghan army and police, but special forces soldiers and air power would remain as well.

Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Mr Karzai’s top security adviser, told The Daily Telegraph “If [the Americans] provide us weapons and equipment, they need facilities to bring that equipment.  If they train our police and soldiers, then those trainers will not be 10 or 20, they will be thousands.”

In addition to fears that the nature of this deal would possibly push the Taliban away from any possible negotiations for peace, this deal has already been decried publicly by Iran, and privately by Pakistan.

Pakistan closed a needed route for supplies into Afghanistan, and is currently requesting public apologies for the deaths of the 24 Pakistani soldiers last November. The U.S. is standing by its investigation of the incident, that claims the guilt lies on both sides, so it is unlikely an apology is forthcoming. Additionally, the U.S. wants the ability to continue launching drone attacks over Pakistani soil – the Pakistanis not only want them to stop, but also contend that they are causing “mental trauma” to their civilians.

Beyond Pakistan’s problems with the U.S. lie its problems with India. While the U.S. may be the country that is most likely to be able to cause the most damage on Pakistani soil if provoked, India is the country Pakistan seems to fear more. Unlike the U.S., China is the most likely candidate on the world stage to provide Pakistan with the protection it desires from India. And even better in Pakistani eyes, is the fact that such an alliance would not have strings attached.

So what does this all mean for the Obama administration and NATO? While leaders from both the U.S. and Pakistan are publicly stating that they are working hard to mend their differences, the reality is that the U.S. needs Pakistan more than Pakistan needs the U.S. Anti-American sentiment is growing on the streets of Pakistan, and the current government is under scrutiny for corruption. There is building pressure calling for early elections, and based on the history of that nation, that is the herald of regime change. The “war on terror” is becoming increasingly unpopular, not only here, but over there as well. And the U.S. is increasingly being perceived as a destabilizing force in the region by the Pakistanis.

But don’t worry. If there was anything going really wrong in the AFPAK theatre, Obama would come out and tell us right away. He certainly wouldn’t let such news get buried under headlines about a shooting in Florida, or any other problems he might be having, with say his landmark legislation coming under scrutiny by SCOTUS, right?

From the Guardian.co.uk:

A US military helicopter crashes after attempting a steep turn and nearly clipping the top of a building. No one on the ground was injured, and both pilots survived. The footage, which according to the International Security Assistance Force was filmed on 6 February, originates from a remote outpost in Afghanistan’s Paktika province

I’ve seen in the news the anger and frustration your people are expressing after it was discovered that members of our military burned copies of the Koran outside an American detention facility. Your people were outraged.  I was outraged too and I’d like to express my sincere apologies.  I am sorry, President Karzai. I am sorry that your penchant for raising and harboring terrorist enemies of the United States has made it necessary for us to be in your crappy, corrupt, backwards country for as long as we’ve been there.  I’m sorry that the politically correct, blame-America first crowd has so infected our military operations that the rules of engagement make it impossible for us to just quickly level the bad guys there and leave.  I’m sorry that you run a nation of men who would kill and have killed over the printed words on a page but who have no problem whatsoever with sewing a 12-year-old girl’s vagina shut so she can’t “sin” or beheading homosexuals.  I’m sorry that your homegrown terrorist detainees use your own Holy texts, provided by our taxpayers here in the US, to send covert/coded messages back and forth. I’m sorry that our soldiers must intercept those messages and destroy them in order to keep our own personnel safe.  I’m sorry that while you live in the lap of luxury on our foreign aid dollars your own people are starving and dying in abject poverty.  I’m sorry that your religion has left you completely incapable of seeing the irony in your feigned outrage at the burning of 4 Korans while you imprison and even execute anyone in your country who has the audacity to get themselves raped or leave Islam for another faith. I’m sorry that our President would make such a public spectacle of apologizing for the burning of books containing secret prisoner communications while giving you and your armed forces a pass on murdering our own military personnel in cold blood. I’m sorry that your culture finds it acceptable for grown men to leave off caring for their families in order to stand around for days shooting guns, burning American flags and calling our President names like “Black Dog”. I’m sorry our President sees more value in apologizing to those men than standing up for American interests and freedoms. Mostly, President Karzai, I’m sorry that we don’t have a leader with enough balls to tell you to kindly take your fake moral outrage and your terrorist sensibilities and shove them both where the sun don’t shine: and I’m not talking about those caves you use to house your Taliban allies.

When I hear him speak of auditing or eliminating the FED I stand up and cheer. The Federal Reserve is a non-governmental entity that is destroying our economy by printing money that has essentially no value, thereby lowering the value of the dollar and guaranteeing severe inflation in the very near future. The FED also has virtually no oversight from anyone in Congress. Paul is also correct in his assessment of federal government spending. We cannot keep spending money borrowed from China for building IHOP restaurants, studying ants in New Zealand, teaching African men how to wash their genitals after sex, and certainly can’t keep borrowing to prop up European countries.

I also agree with much of his stand on Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and the other third world hell holes Obama is involving us in. Fighting a war against Islamic terrorists is one thing but this “nation building” farce is only a boon for the military industrial complex and is not helping any aspect of our national security interests. We are wasting money and lives in a venture that will fail because it isn’t about winning a war; it is about being politically correct and propping up a puppet government. As we are leaving Iraq we see the sectarian slaughter returning.

Sunni and Shiite Muslims have been butchering each other for centuries and we are not going to stop it. Until these stone-age animals decide to live like human beings nothing we do is going to change anything. All we do is put our soldiers in the line of fire with a no-win policy that puts their lives in danger with rules of engagement that are insane.

While closing military bases all across the United States we build and expand bases throughout the world. While we are “helping Afghan police and military close their borders to invaders” we leave our own borders wide open to drug cartels and the very Islamic terrorists we are fighting in far off lands.

Ron Paul makes quite a stir when he talks about “legalizing drugs”. I don’t remember everything he has said about drugs but I do know he has some valid points here also. The “war on drugs” has been going on for 50 years and has cost taxpayers billions in wasted money. Not only have we not solved the problem of illegal drugs; this “war” has made it worse. Most of Paul’s position has more to do with leaving this issue to the states, not legalizing drugs wholesale as the story is reported. Ron Paul is a strong states’ rights advocate, as am I. It only took the politicians 14 years to see the problems caused by Prohibition and repeal the 18th Amendment. The war on drugs has been going on for 50 years with the same results we saw during Prohibition. I don’t condone legalizing all drugs but I see a colossal failure that could be handled better at the state level.

Paul has the same ideas on abortion; let the states decide how they want to handle this issue. I agree with him on this matter. If it isn’t in the Constitution the federal government has no business sticking their nose into it. Every time a person or group doesn’t get their way at the state level they run to the federal government to override the states, the place where these issues should be decided. I see abortion as murder, and see murder as a state issue not a federal one.

I hear all of the things Paul writes and says about these issues and I jump up and cheer him on. Then he begins to talk about foreign policy and I scream out in pain. Paul is just as bad as Barack Obama when it comes to blaming America for every ill in the world. I have a cousin who worked in the building demolition business years ago and I had several opportunities to see the activities involved in blowing a building up, or rather imploding them. When I hear Ron Paul talk about 9/11 being an inside job I want to choke his scrawny little neck.

The idea that the World Trade Center was taken down by internally placed explosives is ludicrous to anyone who has even a scant knowledge of building implosions. The amount of work necessary to drill into pillars, place the explosives, wire them together, and tie everything to a detonator cannot be accomplished in a building with thousands of people walking in and out all day every day. A building that size isn’t brought down on itself with a satchel charge tossed into an elevator. The idea that the Bush Administration was involved in setting up the hijackings is equally ludicrous and statements by Ron Paul and his supporters on this issue shows they are well outside the realm of sane or intelligent thought.

While Ron Paul has some very good ideas about what is needed to restore The Republic of the United States of America, he has more than enough crazy ideas to make him a danger to every person in this country. I would love to see Ron Paul be the next Treasury Secretary or Chairman of the Federal Reserve but to put this man in the White House would endanger our nation almost as much as re-electing Barack Obama.

We need a very strong leader with strong conservative values. We need someone who will articulate the conservative message and have the courage of his/her convictions. Now is not the time for waffling or being concerned about “diversity” or “inclusiveness”. The only answer to our nation’s problems is a conservative approach that relies on the Constitution that our founding fathers fought the Revolutionary War to make possible. Anything less will result in the demise of a once great nation and the rise of another Third World banana republic with a dictator such as Adolph Hitler or Hugo Chavez. Ron Paul is not the man for the job.

I submit this in the name of the most Holy Trinity, in faith, with the responsibility given to me by Almighty God to honor His work and not let it die from neglect.

Bob Russell
Claremore, Oklahoma
January 23, 2012

This is addressed to anyone who feels they have a right to criticize our military people fighting the battles day in and day out, and especially directed to the lame politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D. C.

I am writing this in response to Gerald, Gary, Jaymes, and others of like mind. You posted comments that denigrate the attitudes of me and Dave Ruhoff about our ideas of using peaceful means to take our country back from the leftists who now run our government. I don’t know any of you and never saw your names before this discussion. I have some thoughts for you in regards to your comments about “sunshine patriots” and “collaborators”. If anyone has a weak stomach do not read this. It is not vulgar but is rather graphic to make a point I think is very important to those who think violence is the answer to our woes. If you have ever been in combat you should be ashamed of yourselves. If not, you shouldn’t be spouting the way you did. I went to bed but could not sleep and hope that expressing my thoughts will clear my head and allow me to sleep, and at the same time, give some of you something to reflect upon.

Before thinking ill of us, go enlist in the Army or Marine Corp. Volunteer for combat as an infantry soldier. Spend a couple of years in the mountains of Afghanistan. Spend every day with the threat of death at your elbow. Take that 100 pound rucksack and carry it until your shoulders ache from the load. Walk until you hips, legs, ankles, and feet cry out in pain. Go until you think you can’t walk any more and then keep on going. Go experience the freezing cold, the snow, the rain, the mud. Volunteer to be the point man. Walk along terrain that is so slippery you can barely sand up. And while you are doing this, be on constant alert for snipers, booby traps, or the ambush waiting around the next bend, past the next tree, or past the next boulder. Watch a 180 degree arc side to side and from ground level to the tops of trees, rocks, ridges, etc. for the ambush that could come at any second without warning, just the sudden burst from a grenade, mortar, RPG, or machine gun. Watch east step you take because the rock you kick might have a live grenade under it, or a trip wire, waiting for some poor unsuspecting grunt to kick it and have his legs blown off, or worse.

Lay there at night among the rocks, too tired and scared to sleep, every noise you hear being the chance of an enemy sneaking up to slit your throat. Experience the ambush, bullets tearing the ground around you. See the guy next to you get hit and feel his blood splatter all over you. Feel the relief, and the guilt, when your first thought is “I am okay, thank God it wasn’t me” as he lays there bleeding to death because you can’t quite firing long enough to help him as you are outnumbered 50-1.

Experience the fear of hand to hand combat, you with your knife and the enemy with his. Feel the pain as his knife slashes at your body. Feel your knife plunge into his sternum or stomach and the sensation as it stops when the hilt hits and his blood begins to run along your hand. Or hear the hissing of an enemy hand grenade a split second before it explodes, hurling hot metal into your body and the concussion knocking you to the ground. Feel the pain and fear as you lay there, semi-conscious and unable to defend yourself as enemy soldiers run past you, hoping they don’t stick you with a bayonet or pump a few rounds into you for good measure.

Or feel the sensation of being shot, the hot flash of pain and the feeling of being hit by a baseball bat swung by a Major League slugger. Live like this day in and day out for a year or two. Then come talk to me about “sunshine patriots”. Then come talk to me about “collaborators”. Then come talk to me about “weak willed people only willing to write letters or vote”.

Before judging people like Dave and me, walk a mile in my shoes and see if you can come up with a better plan. See if you can understand why pounding the pavement to get out the vote and writing letters to elected officials to get your point across and accomplish your goals is acceptable. My apologies to those who find this disturbing. My goal here is to; hopefully, give those who are looking for a war something to think about. How about we try it my way? America is worth it to me.

God Bless America.

Bob Russell
Claremore, Oklahoma
January 20, 2012