JB Williams‘ friend writes:
Dear JB,
I am a professional military man, retired but still ready, willing and able to honor my oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies…” - The bunch of traitors, terrorists and conquistadors that presently hold “elected” and appointed office in our nation’s capitol have no intention of honoring the U.S. Constitution. Their intent is the destruction of the republic, the oppression of liberty, the crushing of all resistance and the establishment of a global government.
When Cap and Trade is passed by the Senate and signed into law by Obama, the destruction of our nation will progress rapidly. Millions will be out of work. The cost of living will skyrocket and as this process progresses, violence will fill this country. This will be the excuse for new powers for the government and for United Nations troops to patrol our streets.
The people will be disarmed door to door by troops that hate Americans. The U.S. armed forces will be down sized and those that remain, kept out of the country to protect the usurpers who are destroying this nation. The blood of liberty lovers will flow in the streets. Civil war will erupt as parents see the destruction of their families and millions of “domestic terrorists” who refuse to renounce their belief in God, Liberty and our Republic, finally resort to armed rebellion to save what they can, much too late. Once again, a dark age will fall upon the world and it will be darkest in what was once the free republic known as the United States of America.
In the name of “change” we have sold our nation, our liberty, our future and the soul of America to the forces of evil. We have sewed the wind and we will reap the whirlwind.
I do not believe any longer that this Republic can be saved. Those of us who care are not yet ready to do what needs to be done, to pay the price to retain our liberty and cage our government. Our enemies know this truth better than we. It will take force to drive this evil government from power just as it took force to establish our republic.
For those of us who swore allegiance to the Constitution, this act is not yet feasible. We just can’t admit what we know in our hearts. To even think this, is treason under the new “hate crimes” laws. The forces of Global dominion have planned well and have captured the media, education and now our government is fully in their control.
The last hope for this Republic, short of Divine intervention, is the United States Military and as long as the high command remains in the pocket of the oppressors, there is no hope.
My advice, – get right with God, do whatever you can to protect and preserve your family, keep yourself informed, keep a low profile. When the opportunity arises, defend the Republic to the best of your ability. Do not expect mercy from the oppressors and finally, live free and die hard. God save the Republic.
Bob
I don’t know Colonel Bob. I don’t know JB Williams, either. Colonel Bob could be a figment of JB’s imagination. But I don’t think so. There is iron in Colonel Bob’s words for all Amriki to see. Colonel Bob’s predictions match pretty well a recurring nightmare of mine since 19 APR 93.
The Amriki split the blanket with the Angles in the time of our grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfathers. Nine generations of Amriki warriors over two hundred and thirty-three summers have won for the Amriki honor, territory, influence and respect/fear as The Strongest Tribe.
In the time of our grandfather’s grandfathers the tobacco and cotton-growing Amriki tried to split the blanket but the metal-working, canoe-building, trader Amriki subdued them and punished them severely with the help of Celtic and Teutonic mercenaries. The Soldier Societies of the Amriki were rent asunder. Brother killed brother. The cotton-growers’ grandsons have not forgotten this.
It will soon be time to split the blanket again. The Dog Soldiers, Canoemen, Alligators, Ravens, and Sheep Dogs must decide if they are still to be bound by Amrikiwali, the Way of the Amriki.
They will do their duty, as God gives them light to see that duty.
May He have mercy on us.
Hell is coming to breakfast.
Hound her, senator? A woman like Palin lives by the feud. Because of what you and your lackies in the media have said about her children over the last year, I’ve got to destroy that woman.
Well, she’ll have to run for it now … and hell is where she’s headed.
She’ll be waiting there for us, senator…
If this dialog sounds unfamilar to you, you are not part of my intended target audience for this post.
Where’s she going?
She knows she can do the best for us on the back of a horse.
She’s a guerrilla fighter.
She figures she can carry the fight to the enemy.She’s going down into the Lower 48
to kill Obama…and as many of the Marxists as she can.
How will she do that and come back here?
She won’t come back.
But she might.
You’re all alone now, Palin.
Not quite alone.
Think of the Iranians who captured the death of Neda Agha-Soltan and posted it to Youtube in those terms.
Those images persuaded, changed and influenced more people more rapidly than all the Iranian, American, or any other government Psychological Operations/Strategic Communications/Public Diplomacy efforts put together.
Volunteer, unpaid, informally trained or untrained, uncredentialed, equipped at their own expense with privately-owned Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) gear acting as Combat Camera on the scene as events occurred provided visual information documentation (VIDOC) of the regime’s repression of dissent.
This is Glenn Reynold’s Army of Davids in action. Distributed Information Operations by Iranian Strategic Citizens.
There are lessons to be learned from Iran for those who seek to prepare themselves.
[Note to self: learn how to use your damn HTC FuzeTM, dummy! I can use the camera to send a Multimedia Message, if I can figure it out]
. . . bearded plainclothes militiamen have been attacking and harassing the demonstrators in Tehran this past week. These are Basijis, members of a civilian paramilitary organization founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979. It was conceived of as a civilian auxiliary force subordinate to the Revolutionary Guards, and so it has functioned over the past three decades.
Iran’s Basij Force — The Mainstay Of Domestic Security
The backbone of the Basij comprises 2,500 Al-Zahra (for women) and Ashura battalions, numbering 300–350 personnel each. The IRGC aims to arm 30 percent of these battalions with semi-heavy and heavy weapons. However, all members of the battalions are trained to use light arms and rifles. Since Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari assumed command of the IRGC on September 1, 2007, the Basij have received extensive organizational and logistical support by the Revolutionary Guards that has enabled it to form 30,000 new combat cells, each of them 15-20 members strong, named Karbala and Zolfaqar. These units cooperate closely with the army of the IRGC.
The Basij-e Mostaz’afin, (literally Mobilization of the Oppressed in Farsi), officially known as the Basij Resistance Force (Nirouye Moqavemate Basij), has branches in every town.
The Basij has a history of martyr-style suicide attacks dating back to the Iran-Iraq War, 1980–1988. Today, its main tasks are thought to assist locally against conventional military defense as well as quell civil uprisings. In addition, one of the Force’s key roles has been to maintain internal security, including monitoring internal threats from Iranian citizens and acting as a “static militia force.” The state of training and equipment readiness for the Basij is believed to be low. No major weapons systems have been reported for the inventory of the Basij.
UPDATE 20090622: Photographs of Iran’s Feared Basiji Special Forces
In fifteen months at KAF I never saw a C-5 Galaxy, but I did see Antonov AN-124’s, beaucoup Il-76’s and a butt load of An-24’s. A buddy of mine was running with the Transient Alert guys and got invited aboard an An-24 for lunch. There were no billets made available to most of these guys when they Remained Over Night, so they camped out in their planes like they were RV’s. Interesting characters!
Ex-Soviet air lifters carry a lot of the tonnage needed to maintain an army on the other side of the world. I don’t know if I’ve ever flown in a bird piloted by a Russian, but I’ve ridden with two Uzbeks who probably learned to fly in the old Soviet Voenno-Transportnaya Aviatsiya.
Anyway, read Volga Dnepr Antonov AN-124 forced to land after violating Indian airspace and scratch your head as you ponder what that pilot was thinking about on the way from FJDG to OAKN, and what his cargo might be.
UPDATE 20090622: Intruding Volga Dnepr Antonov AN-124 finally departs Mumbai. Crazy Ivan identifies himself to Indian ADIZ as “VDA 4466″ and then identifies himself to Pakistani ADIZ as “RCH 813.”
Apparently this is not the first intrusion by this aircraft; it has been happening for the past 15 days. The failure of the Indian authorities to register this intrusion earlier, has raised several questions about the alertness of the agencies entrusted with the task of giving air clearances to all flights using Indian airspace.
The Contreristas are coming! And they will be Twittering. And they will be demonized and compared to genocidal Hutus.
Read The Dark Side of Twittering a Revolution. Here is a slightly modified excerpt:
Consider, for a moment, what we’re seeing happening in America: mass-action coordinated, at least in part, through Twitter; traditional media in America having lost any legitimacy for the angry populace, alternative media–like Twitter–increasingly becoming the sole source of information; and a growing sense of persecution and crisis, abetted by the limited streams of rumor-heavy news.
The Politically Incorrect Political Party is taking shape, and elements of the Politically Correct Party are beginning to notice, and worry.
There are lessons to be learned from recent events in Iran. What are they?
UPDATE: There’s Intelligent Life In The Twitterverse and Iran Proves It
Just saw Janet on TV a few minutes ago. Glenn Beck called her the Thomas Paine of our age. He read her letter on his show the other night. If you haven’t read it yet, here it is:
I am Janet Contreras, a concerned, home-grown American citizen. I’m a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you’re willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?
Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I’m not a racist. This isn’t to be confused with legal immigration.
Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don’t you start there.
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don’t trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we’ll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let’s have it. Let’s say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let’s just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I’m busy. I’m busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don’t want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we’re morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we’re so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn’t ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don’t care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.
I recommend you post this on your blog, and paste it on sites you frequent. Need as many eyes on this as we can get. They will rue the day when they provoked the Silent Majority to action.
Peter Zeihan, writing for STRATFOR, had a piece last week entitled The Geography of Recession that explains American Exceptionalism and American patriotism:
The United States and the Free Market
The most important aspect of the United States is not simply its sheer size, but the size of its usable land. Russia and China may both be similar-sized in absolute terms, but the vast majority of Russian and Chinese land is useless for agriculture, habitation or development. In contrast, courtesy of the Midwest, the United States boasts the world’s largest contiguous mass of arable land — and that mass does not include the hardly inconsequential chunks of usable territory on both the West and East coasts.
Second is the American maritime transport system. The Mississippi River, linked as it is to the Red, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee rivers, comprises the largest interconnected network of navigable rivers in the world. In the San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound/New York Bay, the United States has three of the world’s largest and best natural harbors. The series of barrier islands a few miles off the shores of Texas and the East Coast form a water-based highway — an Intracoastal Waterway — that shields American coastal shipping from all but the worst that the elements can throw at ships and ports.
The real beauty is that the two overlap with near perfect symmetry. The Intracoastal Waterway and most of the bays link up with agricultural regions and their own local river systems (such as the series of rivers that descend from the Appalachians to the East Coast), while the Greater Mississippi river network is the circulatory system of the Midwest. Even without the addition of canals, it is possible for ships to reach nearly any part of the Midwest from nearly any part of the Gulf or East coasts. The result is not just a massive ability to grow a massive amount of crops — and not just the ability to easily and cheaply move the crops to local, regional and global markets — but also the ability to use that same transport network for any other economic purpose without having to worry about food supplies.
The implications of such a confluence are deep and sustained. Where most countries need to scrape together capital to build roads and rail to establish the very foundation of an economy — transport capability — geography granted the United States a near-perfect system at no cost. That frees up U.S. capital for other pursuits and almost condemns the United States to be capital-rich. Any additional infrastructure the United States constructs is icing on the cake. (The cake itself is free — and, incidentally, the United States had so much free capital that it was able to go on to build one of the best road-and-rail networks anyway, resulting in even greater economic advantages over competitors.)
Third, geography has also ensured that the United States has very little local competition. To the north, Canada is both much colder and much more mountainous than the United States. Canada’s only navigable maritime network — the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway —is shared with the United States, and most of its usable land is hard by the American border. Often this makes it more economically advantageous for Canadian provinces to integrate with their neighbor to the south than with their co-nationals to the east and west.
Similarly, Mexico has only small chunks of land, separated by deserts and mountains, that are useful for much more than subsistence agriculture; most of Mexican territory is either too dry, too tropical or too mountainous. And Mexico completely lacks any meaningful river system for maritime transport. Add in a largely desert border, and Mexico as a country is not a meaningful threat to American security (which hardly means that there are not serious and ongoing concerns in the American-Mexican relationship).
With geography empowering the United States and hindering Canada and Mexico, the United States does not need to maintain a large standing military force to counter either. The Canadian border is almost completely unguarded, and the Mexican border is no more than a fence in most locations — a far cry from the sort of military standoffs that have marked more adversarial borders in human history. Not only are Canada and Mexico not major threats, but the U.S. transport network allows the United States the luxury of being able to quickly move a smaller force to deal with occasional problems rather than requiring it to station large static forces on its borders.
Like the transport network, this also helps the U.S. focus its resources on other things.
Taken together, the integrated transport network, large tracts of usable land and lack of a need for a standing military have one critical implication: The U.S. government tends to take a hands-off approach to economic management, because geography has not cursed the United States with any endemic problems. This may mean that the United States — and especially its government — comes across as disorganized, but it shifts massive amounts of labor and capital to the private sector, which for the most part allows resources to flow to wherever they will achieve the most efficient and productive results.
Laissez-faire capitalism has its flaws. Inequality and social stress are just two of many less-than-desirable side effects. The side effects most relevant to the current situation are, of course, the speculative bubbles that cause recessions when they pop. But in terms of long-term economic efficiency and growth, a free capital system is unrivaled. For the United States, the end result has proved clear: The United States has exited each decade since post-Civil War Reconstruction more powerful than it was when it entered it. While there are many forces in the modern world that threaten various aspects of U.S. economic standing, there is not one that actually threatens the U.S. base geographic advantages.
Is the United States in recession? Of course. Will it be forever? Of course not. So long as U.S. geographic advantages remain intact, it takes no small amount of paranoia and pessimism to envision anything but long-term economic expansion for such a chunk of territory. In fact, there are a number of factors hinting that the United States may even be on the cusp of recovery.
The North American continent is the most favored land mass on the planet. The bounty of the soil was the source of the wealth that built a bastion of Western Civilization in a sparsely populated wilderness. Americans with some connection to the land, some appreciation for just how favored our continent is, tend to be proud of it, and protective of it. Americans in the great coastal megalopolitan connurbations don’t have that connection, and tend not to have the same pride and protectiveness as us rubes out here in Fly Over Country. Rural vs. Urban is a campaign in the Culture War.
My grandfather used to proclaim to me during our jaunts about west central Ohio that Logan County was God’s Country. And to him, it was. To me, Cade’s Cove is God’s Country. So is Halliday Well. So are a lot of places.
But let us give the account of the country as rendered by Arapooish, a Crow chief, to Mr. Robert Campbell, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.
“The Crow country,” said he, “is a good country. The Great Spirit has put it exactly in the right place; while you are in it you fare well; whenever you go out of it, whichever way you travel, you fare worse.
“If you go to the south, you have to wander over great barren plains; the water is warm and bad, and you meet the fever and ague.
“To the north it is cold; the winters are long and bitter, with no grass; you cannot keep horses there, but must travel with dogs. What is a country without horses?
“On the Columbia they are poor and dirty, paddle about in canoes, and eat fish. Their teeth are worn out; they are always taking fish-bones out of their mouths. Fish is poor food.
“To the east, they dwell in villages; they live well; but they drink the muddy water of the Missouri–that is bad. A Crow`s dog would not drink such water.
“About the forks of the Missouri is a fine country; good water; good grass; plenty of buffalo. In summer, it is almost as good as the Crow country; but in winter it is cold; the grass is gone; and there is no salt weed for the horses.
“The Crow country is exactly in the right place. It has snowy mountains and sunny plains; all kinds of climates and good things for every season. When the summer heats scorch the prairies, you can draw up under the mountains, where the air is sweet and cool, the grass fresh, and the bright streams come tumbling out of the snow-banks. There you can hunt the elk, the deer, and the antelope, when their skins are fit for dressing; there you will find plenty of white bears and mountain sheep.
“In the autumn, when your horses are fat and strong from the mountain pastures, you can go down into the plains and hunt the buffalo, or trap beaver on the streams. And when winter comes on, you can take shelter in the woody bottoms along the rivers; there you will find buffalo meat for yourselves, and cotton-wood bark for your horses: or you may winter in the Wind River valley, where there is salt weed in abundance.
“The Crow country is exactly in the right place. Everything good is to be found there. There is no country like the Crow country.”
Face it: This present generation of leaders at home would never have made it to Normandy Beach
We Americans collectively are unworthy of the sacrifices made for us before we were born. Victor Davis Hanson knew this 5 years ago.
Our Real Dilemma. We do have a grave problem in this country, but it is not the plan for Iraq, the neoconservatives, or targeting Saddam. Face it: This present generation of leaders at home would never have made it to Normandy Beach. They would instead have called off the advance to hold hearings on Pearl Harbor, cast around blame for the Japanese internment, sued over the light armor and guns of Sherman tanks, apologized for bombing German civilians, and recalled General Eisenhower to Washington to explain the rough treatment of Axis prisoners.
Nirkh, or Nerkh, is a district of Wardak Province in Afghanistan. Taliban, Haqqani Network, HIG, and assorted other Armed Opposition Groups cross Wardak Province on their way to mischief in Kabul. Wardak was selected to be the pilot province for the implementation of the Afghan Public Protection Program, AKA AP3, or Guardians, and often referred to on this blog as Jezailchis. They are either the Civilian Irregular Defense Group of the Afghanistan Campaign or yet another attempt by stupid Americans to replicate the Sons of Iraq in Afghanistan. Take your pick.
Mentoring AP3 is out of Task Force Phoenix’s lane. So is dealing with the Ministry of the Interior. Johnny Utah’s ODA is getting all the press coverage. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson of NPR is making them famous. Thanks Mrs. Greyhawk for the Dawn Patrol link.
There may be other elements involved in midwifing the Guardians, but their stories are not being told.
Check IW in the category cloud for more on the Guardians.
Would you buy a used car from Robert Gibbs?
Heard about this watching Political Grapevine:
Not Letting Up
And four months into President Obama’s term, the controversy surrounding his original birth certificate continues to dog his administration.
The Obama campaign, you’ll remember, posted a copy of what it said was the document on its Web site to try to dispel rumors that he is not an American citizen. But, an online petition calling for the release of what it describes as the president’s complete birth certificate with the hospital name has almost 400,000 signatures.
Today the president’s press secretary was incredulous that the issue just won’t go away. In a White House briefing he said: “This question, in many ways, continues to astound me. The state of Hawaii provided a copy, with a seal, of the president’s birth… I certainly hope, by the fourth year of our administration, that we’ll have dealt with this burgeoning birth controversy.”
Watch Laughing Boy’s body language. Look at his eyes. Listen to his tone.
Where is all that scorn and contempt coming from?
This is PSYOP by ridicule. Those who question the President’s eligibility to hold the office are Legitimacy Deniers, and targeted for the same treatment as Climate Change Deniers.
See also Obama mouthpiece laughs off birth certificate request and Please get this straight: AKA Obama birth not vetted
Birth certificate question being raised in Ball, La.
UPDATE 20090531: What Mario Apuzzo said –
We cannot place any trust in what Mr. Gibbs said. He and Mr. Obama have to do a much better job than Mr. Gibbs’ feeble and floundering effort at answering Mr. Kinsolving’s simple question. Obama should just do the right and simple thing for everyone’s sake and produce the real evidence of where he was born rather than have his political cronies dodge the question for him.
The latest episode in the Wardak Jezailchi saga.
New Afghan Force Joins Fight Against Taliban on All Things Considered
UPDATE 20090602: It pains me to admit it, but NPR is covering The Guardians better than anybody else right now. U.S. Helps Afghans Assume Control Of Local Security
The KAU gets the jingle trucks from Kandahar to TK.
Good stuff at The Steady Drip.
Gleaned these nuggets for your consideration:
The goal is to field 1,200 Guardians in Wardak province, but only 1½ districts have completed recruitment, producing 243 volunteers.
In part, this is because the Taliban is still active in parts of Wardak, and families fear they will be targeted if their sons join. Provincial council members complain that the lightly armed Guardians are vulnerable to attack. Some still have old Czech rifles that jam if they aren’t cleaned repeatedly. Hardier AK-47s are coming.
The Czech Vz58 design is 11 years newer than the AK-47. I have been curious since I first heard about it why the AP3 were being issued Vz58’s. Possibly the Czech PRT in Logar had something to do with that. Arming them with an uncommon weapon could have been a symbol of special worthiness, a visual signal that these aren’t your run of the mill raggedy ass militia. No doubt the Vz58 requires operator maintenance and cleaning, just like most other infantry small arms in use by armies, police forces, paramilitaries and militias throughout the world. I shot my first deer with a Mk III Short Magazine Lee Enfield pretty much identical to what Afghan riflemen used to shoot before they acquired AK’s and gave up marksmanship for spray and pray imshallah. It had to be cleaned, and oiled, and patches run through the bore after firing. Some of that surplus .303 was corrosive. Their grandfathers could maintain bolt action rifles but Vz58’s are beyond their capability?
The Basic Rifle Marksmanship trainers didn’t sell the virtues of the weapon.
Also, there is a growing lack of trust between Guardians and their Special Forces mentors in the province of Nerkh, caused by an incident last month in which three Guardians were killed and three injured by a roadside IED.
The six young volunteers I met, all from Nerkh, were eager to talk about this episode. They claim their colleagues were killed after being “forced” by U.S. Special Forces operatives to accompany them on patrol, even though the Afghans were banned from leaving their assigned villages.
The Special Forces lead adviser and other U.S. military officials told a different story – that the three were killed while returning home from an assignment to protect a community meeting. Several provincial officials, including the Nerkh district chief, Mohammad Hanif Hanifi, dispute this version and corroborate the Guardians’ story.
So there is a Nirkh PPF that trained, graduated and commenced operations beneath the media radar. Apparently a half district worth. Which may be all they get if the story about being forced by SF to go out on patrol becomes the accepted wisdom in the bazaar.
If they are not allowed to patrol outside their villages, why do they have trucks?
If there really is a lack of trust between the Nirkh Jezailchis and their Paramilitary Mentoring Team, pull that team and plug another team in there. If it’s all BS then smack down the tellers of tales and Charlie Mike.
Was this the straw that broke McKiernan’s back?
They sound scared. Good.
(U) aboveground
(U//FOUO) A term used to describe extremist groups or individuals who operate overtly and portray themselves as law-abiding.
I really am law-abiding. So far.
(U) decentralized terrorist movement
(U//FOUO) A movement of groups or individuals who pursue shared ideological goals through tactics of leaderless resistance independent of any larger terrorist organization.
Pretty much all my future acts of leaderless resistance will be independent of any terrorist organization, large or small. Is resistance necessarily terroristic? DHS seems to think so.
(U) militia movement
(U//FOUO) A rightwing extremist movement composed of groups or individuals who adhere to an antigovernment ideology often incorporating various conspiracy theories. Members oppose most federal and state laws, regulations, and authority (particularly firearms laws and regulations) and often conduct paramilitary training designed to resist perceived government interference in their activities or to overthrow the U.S. Government through the use of violence.
(also: citizens militia, unorganized militia)
That’s what they think of people who believe the Second Amendment means what it says. Oh, yeah. Scared.
(U) patriot movement
(U//FOUO) A term used by rightwing extremists to link their beliefs to those commonly associated with the American Revolution. The patriot movement primarily comprises violent antigovernment groups such as militias and sovereign citizens.
(also: Christian patriots, patriot group, Constitutionalists,
Constitutionist)
All you “rightwing extremists” waving your Gadsden Flags at tea parties are violent. Not yet. But the limits of forbearance will soon be reached.
(U) rightwing extremism
(U//FOUO) A movement of rightwing groups or individuals who can be broadly divided into those who are primarily hate-oriented, and those who are mainly antigovernment and reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority. This term also may refer to rightwing extremist movements
that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
(also known as far right, extreme right)
If you actually think the Ninth and Tenth Amendments mean what they say, you’re a”rightwing extremist.”
(U) tax resistance movement
(U//FOUO) Groups or individuals who vehemently believe taxes violate their constitutional rights. Among their beliefs are that wages are not income, that paying income taxes is voluntary, and that the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allowed Congress to levy taxes on
income, was not properly ratified. Members have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence and terrorism in an attempt to advance their
extremist goals. They often target government entities such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
(also: tax protest movement, tax freedom movement, antitax movement)
Can’t have a Federal Government without some kind of revenue, but am I bad if I ask questions about the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment?
This Lexicon defines the terms these people use to describe me and many other Americans who haven’t drunk the Kool Aid. It supposedly was “withdrawn” after it was disseminated.
Their mask slipped. They keep this up, I’ll dig mine out.
How do you convince drunks, thieves, brawlers, romantics and escapists from failed love affairs, failed businesses and failed revolutions who may not speak your language to fight for your country to the death?
Colonel Khan’s private warlord army or Interior Ministry Highway Patrol?
There seems to be some confusion on that point.
ADF plays down warlord’s role on crucial supply chain
“Defence is aware the Kandak Amniante Uruzgan commanded by Colonel Matiullah Khan works for the Afghan Ministry of Interior to provide security on key routes within Uruzgan,” an ADF spokeswoman told The Australian yesterday. “Colonel Matiullah Khan is commander of the KAU, an organisation officially recognised and funded by the MOI to provide security along the key routes in Uruzgan province.
“The KAU performs that function in co-operation with the Afghan National Police.”
For Kandahar-Tarin Kowt, the convoy is secured not by bribing the Taliban but by paying a hefty toll to the policeman in charge of the road.
Matiullah Khan is ostensibly responsible for Oruzgan’s highways and he is paid at least $US1700 ($2385) a truck to ensure each convoy arrives at its destination safely. With about 200 trucks a month heading to Tarin Kowt, it’s a profitable sideline.
He’s not the police chief of Oruzgan but he may as well be. He commands about 300 uniformed police and has a militia of at least 1700 more, mainly protecting the road from Kandahar, the artery for the entire province. When you control the road, you control a lot. Since he took over the operation, no tankers have been lost and there have been only occasional Kalashnikov rounds to deal with.
From the front gate of Camp Holland, it’s only 200m or so to Matiullah’s compound. His brother agrees to drive us to his command post in the Tarin Kowt bazaar. There is a picture of Matiullah on the windscreen. His image, in a well-pressed police uniform, has been superimposed on a lush, Switzerland-like backdrop. Once we get through rigorous security checks – which includes demonstrating that our cameras work, to prove they contain no bombs – we meet Matiullah, who is dressed in the ubiquitous shalwar kameez, a black waistcoat and black turban.
At 36, he’s quite young for a commander, but his family ties are strong. He is the nephew of former Oruzgan governor Jan Mohammed Khan and a key leader of the Popalzai tribe, led by President Hamid Karzai and his brother Ahmed Wali Karzai. (The latter is accused by White House officials of being a leading player in the booming opium trade.) Matiullah, a father of 10, says he’s vehemently opposed to drugs, which threaten to “finish off” the country’s youth.
Matiullah is guarded on the profits he is reaping from securing the convoys. “Sometimes more, sometimes less,” he says, unwilling to give a figure. Right now, it’s easy money. The Taliban is on holiday. “For the moment they have gone to Pakistan because it is cold. But now they will start regrouping and will come again.”
He says 400 to 500 of his men have been killed or wounded on the road, but keeping it open is vital for the province. And as well as making him rich, the road is making him popular.
“If he was not in Oruzgan, the Taliban would have captured the province a long time ago,” says head of the provincial shura, or council, Maulvi Hamidullah. “I have no link with him but he is a very good person for Oruzgan. The people love him and he loves the people.”
The Dutch aren’t confused.
Answering questions from the members Peters, Van Bommel and Poppe on the number of Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan , translated from Dutch.
The Kandak Amniante Urugzan or Highway Police Uruzgan, Colonel Matiullah Khan is responsible for the security of the route between Kandahar and tarine Kowt. This unit is not covered by the Provincial Governor, but directly to the police chief of the entire southern region. In addition, Matti Ullah about troops who paid private security.
Question 7
Is it true that Matiullah Khan for the security of convoys for ISAF mainly militia from a tribe, the Popalzai tribe of President Karzai and Jan Mohammad Khan, commitment? Is it true that at the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) complained that the Popalzai strain this disproportionate advantage and that they have offered the lower amount for convoys to protect? If yes, what is this done?The Kau of Matiullah Khan is indeed mainly Popolzai tribe members, but also a substantial part Popolzai non-members, as Barakzai, Achakzai and Tokhi. In a tribal society is that safety is regulated along tribal lines. The PRT is no complaints from other strains on the composition of the Kau.
Question 8
Are the militia Matiullah Khan legal? They fall under Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) program for disarming illegal militias?The Kau is not a militia but part of the Afghan security structure and as such included in the payroll of the Afghan Ministry of Interior.
The Kau is therefore not covered by the DIAG program. The Kau However, from a unit of the Afghan Military Forces (AMF) that the Disarmament demobilization Reintegration (DDR) program has passed, and then is transformed into Afghan Higway Police.
The Highway Police is gradually integrated into the Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP). In most provinces that process is completed, in Uruzgan yet. As stated above, in the national review of the police occupation ambiguity about the status of Kau. Netherlands urges Afghan authorities to this uncertainty is cleared up soon.
Question 9
Do you share the view that commitment and (indirect) payment of the troop and Matiullah Khan a negative impact on good governance and stability in the South? If not, why not?The Kau is currently more than any other police organization, to a considerable extent to ensure the security of the route to Kandahar and the physical security of convoys on the road traveling. The (safe) passage of persons and goods to and from Uruzgan is an essence le condition for reconstruction and economic development of the province of Uruzgan.
Kandahar dam contract comes with security clause
Canada has invested millions of dollars in programs to disarm and disband the militias that roam Afghanistan’s countryside. But most illegal armed groups had only a small fraction of their arsenals confiscated, according to a recent study by Antonio Giustozzi, a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He cites the example of a militia commander in Uruzgan province named Matiullah, who handed in 264 weapons as part of the disbandment program but then continued to operate his band of armed men.
The Matiullah militia is believed to have renamed itself the KAU and now plays an important role enforcing security on the highway between Kandahar city and Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan. The KAU’s pickup trucks full of armed men frequently patrol the road that passes near the planned dam project and a Canadian military base that overlooks the highway.
I thought I recognized Matiullah’s name. We’ve mentioned him before.
Two good entries at Strategy Page worth passing on:
Mass murder has long been a grisly feature of human history. But the speed and extent of such massacres accelerated in the 20th century, with the spread of electronic mass media. First radio, then television and now the Internet, made it possible to more quickly spread and intensify the hatred and dehumanization of the victims necessary to get mass killings started.
As I was reading this I thought of the push to shut down talk radio. The programs I listen to would have to be shut down before the Politically Incorrect could be successfully dehumanized, demonized, rounded up and purged.
Penetrating Palestinian Propaganda Ploys
Israel found that over two-thirds of the Palestinian dead were men of military age (18-35). They also found that most of the “children” were teenage males, and some have been found memorialized in Palestinian web sites as “martyred fighters.” That means they were armed and on the payroll. Moreover, Hamas openly uses younger kids as lookouts and messengers. Lots of these “fighters” got killed simply because they deliberately placed themselves in the combat zone, or were sent there by their adult commanders. Thus over 70 percent of the Palestinian dead were working for Hamas, and most of them were armed.
Much bogus BS was put out during the last Gaza War. I’ve been rooting for the Israelis since 1967, but there seems to be a whole lot of Americans who have been mindfu read more…
