Perspectives

The US Purpose of the Libyan No Fly Zone Mission

I've watched Sen Carl Levin on CNN's State of the Union discuss the situation in Libya twice now.  He seems to be the most informed elected official speaking about the "mission," at least as far as being able to explain the Administration positions.  It is now as clear as mud to me.  A few days ago, I heard "Democracy Now" debate the same issue on NPR.  They were begging for money throughout the show, but are far from advocates of American Democracy.  Interestingly, a Libyan professor at the University of Michigan was fully supportive of actions in Libya while an International Law professor at USC or UCLA spouted the typical anti-war slogans.

The situation in Libya, or I should the Obama Admin reactions to it, have split the political spectrum along bi-partisan lines.  Left and Right find reasons to find fault as well as to support the overall mission, but the one thing most seem to agree on is that there is no clear cut mission, except of course for a few like Sen Levin, who claim it's crystal clear, while he muddies what clarity there is.

Worldwide Citizen Growling at Government Growing

From Wisconsin to Washington to Tunis, Cairo, Tripoli, Damascus, Athens, and London, there is a growing discontent of citizens with their own governments.  The commonality is that large groups of individuals are organizing protests against the government, but the demands of change are far from universal.   And there is no standard of peaceable assembly or violent overthrow, nor have governments reacted in the same manner to discontent of their populations.

While I would hold that the underlying worldwide economic downturn is a primary factor in convincing people to speak out, this factor has not received attention as an international factor, but rather as a side issue on the local stages.  The spark in Tunisia was a non-permitted fruit cart seized by a low-level government official.  It convinced the owner to set himself on fire, and the people to turn out in large numbers to demand the resignation of a President who probably never heard of the fruit cart owner or the official that seized the cart, until the former permanently disfigured himself, over a hundred dollars worth of goods.

War Should Not be Measured in Dollars...

... but in lives lost and saved.  It can be difficult to calculate the number of lives saved, but an end result of going to war must be lives saved.  The Iraq War can be used as an example.  Under Saddam, across his 30+ years in power, his regime killed an average of 1000 civilians every month.  That statistic does not include those murdered by common criminals, nor troops killed in combat.  It does not include the number tortured by the regime.  It is only the number of civilians killed by the Saddam Government.  ((This is not to say that this is the only factor that should be considered.  National Security Interests must be a factor, but this is one factor that should weigh in.))

At present, we cannot calculate the number of lives saved by US actions in Libya.  We do know that the 30 days of dithering cost thousands of lives.  We can anticipate that if Qaddafi duck prevails, not only will more lives be lost in Libya, but also that he will ramp up international terrorist actions.  We know that he killed hundreds of Americans in the 80's and trained Charles Taylor who killed tens of thousands of Liberian civilians.  Qaddaffi has a history of spreading secular terrorism and tyranny, as did Saddam.

How many lives are saved by US actions in Iraq?  At least 750/month, but one could argue 1000/month or 3000/month.  It is harder to calculate how many US Civilian lives or European lives have been saved, but given that there has been no major attack on US Civilians since 9/11 and Al-Qaeda is mostly defeated in Iraq, one could argue, that number is between 100 and 200/year.  How much are those lives worth?  Are civilian lives worth more?  Are children's lives worth more?  Are women's lives worth more?  How much value does one place on an Iraqi being able to say that Maliki is an idiot without fear of being tortured or killed?

Significants of The Libyan No Fly Zone

(As in significant points, not overall significance.)  It is a positive thing that the No-Fly zone has been implemented.  It is a negative that it took so long and has exposed lies and a lack of leadership in our political spectrum.  For a month, the US Administration dithered saying it wouldn't be so simple to institute the move.  During that month, Qaddaffi was able to turn the rebels back from the gates of Tripoli to their base in Benghazi.  The no-fly zone should have been implemented when Qaddafi was shooting protestors from his aircraft. 

The French and the Brits have led in the political spectrum, and they have joined together behind the US in the military operations.  The Arab League claimed to support the concept, until it was implemented, because by the time it was implemented, it took more than just taking out Libyan aircraft to get the field of battle level again.  Had it been implemented when it should have, it could have been a true no-fly zone, instead of what has been implemented: an air support campaign for the rebels.

A level playing field on the battlefield means the war lasts longer and that more people die.  When this started, the rebels had the initiative and the popular support.  Qaddaffi had the munitions, the airpower, and the armored vehicles.  If this devolves into two forces of equal capabilities, many more will die over a longer period of time, than if overwhelming force was used quickly and completely.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the No-Fly Zone is where the POTUS received authority for it.  He didn't even consult Congress, much less receive authorization to commit acts of war against a sovereign nation.  He submitted to the United Nations, from the beginning stating that the move would need their approval.  Combined, this submission to the UN and ignoring the Constitutional Authority (Congress) for the acts of war, is very detrimental to the Constitution and US sovereignity.

When National Diversity Bulldozes Minority Heroes

Two Barelas, NM Heroes gave their lives in an unpopular war and the local community gathered in April, 1970 to dedicate a park to the Marines.  Sgt Pete Padilla and Pfc Manuel Mora volunteered, served, and died in Viet Nam.  It shocked their families when the park was bulldozed for the National Hispanic Cultural Center in February 1999, but it continues to wound the families as parents fall prey to old age.  No one asked the families if it were ok, or even told them it would be done.  It has cost $50 Million to raze the park honoring 2 Heroes and build the center honoring Atzlans.

Since then, the families have been fighting the foundation to honor their sons, with a trail of broken promises.  The current promise is to put the parks on 4 acres behind the buildings, along a ditch, costing $250,000.  The bids are in for the promise, but an earlier plan was to name the amphitheater or the torreon, which was instead named for Manny Aragon, a former politician, now in jail for fraud.  Sure, they removed his name after he was convicted, but it says alot about priorities when two Marines names are bulldozed, and a fraudulent politician is honored.

Eleven years later, the families of these Marines live on hope that this promise won't be broken.  It won't be what they once had, but it's better than the nothing they've been given as change for progress in the meantime.

Retired SF Officer, Bill Burgess, Runs for Circuit Court Judge

It has only been a few days since William H Burgess III declared he is running for Circuit Court Judge in Florida for 2012.  To be honest, I don't know much about him or how such campaigns are run.  Such campaigns seem to have less of the partisan venom of other elected officials.  There was one thing that jumped out at me though: He's a former officer in Special Forces.  He has also served in Military Intelligence and the Infantry.  That's not his main qualification for the job, but it's the one that jumped out at me. 

And I asked a friend to verify it.  Turns out he was one of the first to become an SF branched officer.  In earlier times, officers of other branches were simply assigned to Special Forces, and it was considered a career killer.  Those that volunteered for the assignment did so because they believed enough in the mission that they were willing to forego career advancement to be the best. 

Mr Burgess runs a legal blog where he discusses legal issues and he's on the WOTN friends list on Facebook which is how I learned about his bid for judgeship.  His political affilation is Non-Partisan.  (Because of the nature of our Facebook page, I accept nearly all friend requests.  It does not imply I know the person or agree with their positions, but that I'm happy that citizens want to stay informed on the events of the War On Terror.  So, I was playing catch-up on this.) 

For the legal scholars out there, this is one to watch.  For the central Florida residents out there, this is a chance to learn more about one of the candidates for Florida Judgeship.  For the readers that are interested in such things, this may be a way to influence the path of the our courts.  For me, this will likely be a learning experience in judicial campaigns.

David Bellavia (Silver Star) for NY 26th Congressional District

It's rare that I can post an endorsement before a candidate posts their positions.  David Bellavia is a different case.  I already know where he stands on National Defense.  He strongly supports a strong National Defense.  He's demonstrated it more than once, on the battlefield and on Capital Hill.  He is a known commodity, to many of us.

He faces an uphill battle, but it's not an impossible battle, not for him.  He has faced greater odds.  He's running as an independent  (campaign site).  He won't be beholden to the Republican or the Democratic Party, when he wins.  We can use more independents in Congress and I believe the reason we have so few is that so few quality candidates, like Bellavia, have run without a big party backing.  He also has a facebook page for his campaign. (Be sure to like it.)

Bellavia is a member of our Hall of Heroes.  Who is he?  What has he done?

A Success Story

A few weeks back, Nathan Webster launched a site under the WOTN umbrella.  We call it our outreach program.  I set up the site and it has a War On Terror News url, but the site and the content are his.  He has a nice start on readership and is doing great with posting new content on a regular basis from his embedded tours with Troops in Iraq from 2007 to 2009.

More to the point of this success story is that his goal to publish a limited run of his work in a quality book, is now funded.  It is a pictorial history of the surge to success period in Iraq and hopefully this run will turn into a publisher seeing the value of his work towards the history of Iraq and the Troops that made it possible.  This is an initial success but there is still time (about a week and a half) if you'd like to secure a copy of the book that may never get onto bookstore shelves.  It's your choice and there are examples of his work on his site, but a pledge in these last couple of weeks comes with no risk of a broken heart.  Before, the risk was only a broken heart but no risk of lost money.  (Don't blame me if he says something you don't like.  There is no editorial review of his posts.  Those are his words and his articles, alone.)

And this is not a WOTN success story, but a Nathan Webster success story.  All we've done is give him a little publicity and a place to tell his part of the story that is Iraq.  He did all the real work.  He embedded.  He took the pictures and he wrote the stories that went with the pictures.  He set up the kickstarter account and it was his friends and the Troops that pledged the money to get the book published, along with the money he put up.

So what's my angle?  I'm not getting any commissions on this project.  But I do get the joy of seeing a Veteran and Embedded Photo Journalist that is doing it right, succeed in telling his story, or rather the Soldiers of whom he captured in pictures, securing Freedom for us and for Iraqis.  It costs me nothing but I do get the warm fuzzy at seeing him succeed, and knowing that this part of history is one step closer to being available to the world, and that in the short term it is available to interested parties as a potentially exclusive piece of history, with his autograph gracing it.

PTSD: A Political Football and Sensationalist Story

Rarely do I discuss PTSD and there's a reason for it.  Most of what is written about it is sensationalist, inflated, and aimed in one way or another to attain money for someone.  It's a political football that those that know the truth feel powerless to discuss honestly for being perceived as callous and uncaring.  And most efforts surrounding PTSD are counter-productive to actually preventing or assisting the individual touched by it.

Let's start with the acknowledgement that PTSD is real and those facing the challenge should be given every tool in dealing with it.  This isn't just the responsibility of the Military because our political leaders sent Warriors onto the battlefield.  It's a basic employer responsibility to deal with the health issues resulting from the terms of employment.  The current moves by the Administration to place greater financial burden on Veterans to pay for their own health care, for wounds caused by their employment by the federal government isn't just an outrage because they were promised healthcare in return for the risks they took, but a basic outrage of any (self-insured) employer that tries to get out of responsibilities to cover on the job injuries.

I will also point out that no one survives the battlefield unchanged.  While these changes will appear alien to civilians who have never experienced the battlefield, these changes are not necessarily bad.  Some of the "symptoms" associated with PTSD are very positive, though may need refinement to not scare civilians.  And there are differences between battlefield PTSD and civilians who have experienced a traumatic event and are scarred by it.  Even while some symptoms may be the same, the causes mean treatments must be different. 

Troops, Warriors, Heroes, & Role Models

On occasion, I run into a conversation about who are Heroes, or why not all Troops are Warriors.  This has been brought up from two very opposite quarters recently.  One was a Civilian Patriot who is very supportive of Our Troops.  The other was an MSM journalist who happens to be a Veteran.  It came as little surprise to me when the journalist "defriended" me on Facebook.  He didn't like that I challenged his generalized conclusions with evidenced facts, or that I pointed out the hypocrisy of his intellectual crowd when they engaged in namecalling as their conclusions fell apart for lack of evidence.

But from time to time, it is necessary to define the terms I use on a regular basis.  Our Troops include every member of the Armed Forces, from the farthest removed Airman from the battlefield to the Special Forces Weapons Sergeant that takes out multiple terrorists, in the dark, with his bare hands.  The latter is a Warrior, while the former is not.  They are both Honorable and both have embarked on a career to protect Our Nation, Our Freedoms, and Our Citizens, at the risk of their own lives, but one chose a profession that put the likelihood of facing the enemy much greater than the other.

The job of that Airman in the rear with the gear, hunting down terrorists on the web or typing up awards and pay issues is just as important as the job of the SF Weapons Sergeant on the front lines, but one is much more likely to devote himself to perfection, because if he doesn't, he will personally see the death caused by his mistakes, while the other lives in a world without significant bullets.  One is more likely to be thrust into a situation where Valor is the option he'll choose over cowardice, but the other will not know until that decision is thrust upon him.

To Advance the Rise of Islamism

"Humans have a basic need to convert others to their cause."

An educated friend explained that to me when I was telling him about another that was trying to convince me to become a vegetarian.  He holds true for politics, for causes, for religion (even Atheism), and for ideologies.  It validates their beliefs, if they can convince others to take it up.  Religion is the most obvious we think of when it comes to conversions, but politics & ideology is equally if not more dogmatic.

Islamism, is a political ideology that preys upon a religion, and attempts to convert the "believers" to it, before oppressing them with it.  There are many types of islamists and they don't agree on how best to achieve their common goal: a worldwide Islamist Caliphate.  In Current Affairs, we see the rise of islamism in previously democratic nations of the Middle East.  But, our own political leaders are downplaying the dangers of islamism as they focus on the means rather than the goals, in many of these efforts.

The most obvious of islamists, and the ones that are condemned most widely, are terrorists.  Al-Qaeda is the most known of these and the Taliban are their junior partners.  Islamist Terrorists are willing to kill anyone in order to further their goals of Islamist Emirates in the Caliphate (Islamist Empire).  Strangely, Western Politicians are now suggesting negotiations with the Taliban, despite their knowledge that the Taliban desire to oppress women, and their continued attacks on Afghan & Paki Citizens and Politicians.

Just Following the Crowd: POTUS

When General McChrystal asked for more Troops, Our European Allies supported him.  When Persians risked life and limb to protest their dictator's theft of an election, the POTUS was silent.  When Egyptians protested in Tahir Square, the US Government was caught off guard, but cheered El Baradei on and then convinced the Egyptian Military to throw out Mubarak and to open the politics of Egypt to the Muslim Brotherhood.  And weeks into the Libyan Rebellion, the most we get out of the POTUS is lukewarm talk. 

The Grog News

 
There was a short discussion a long time ago about adding a gaming component to WOTN.  It didn't work out and wasn't a very long discussion, mainly because I don't know a lot about gaming, though I do think the latest controllers for video games (personal movements) are the best thing that ever happened in that field.  (Can't tell you how well they work, since I've never used a Wii or PS3?)

Today, I found a new site, that seems more focused on war board games than the other issues it also discusses (military/war news), in a very informed manner.  I don't see much about video games, but they seem to have a handle on how war gaming and military planning can intersect.  A snippet from what may be a standard topic there:

Random Friday Wargaming: Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001-?

"Guardian keeps promising us a review of this one, and some day we'll run it as an event at Origins. For now, revel in the glory that is Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001-?, a fantastic game from GMT about very current events."  Read the rest there, and explore the site to see if it's your cup of tea.

The Constitutional (and Effective) Response to Piracy

Does it seem as if the world is powerless to do anything meaningful against the new scourge of piracy?  Have you ever wondered why piracy was almost unheard of for so many decades?  Once upon a time, pirates were better armed and better hidden than their prey and the navies that hunted them down.  The odds were in their favor when they were willing to seek out new harbors and new islands on a world poorly mapped.

Today, that is not the case.  Today the world is well mapped, as are the safe harbors of a band of pirates that float around the seas in centuries old wooden boats with slightly more modern engines and 1940's era assault rifles.   Sure, it's cheaper in the short term to pay them millions to recover ships and goods worth billions, but that doesn't fix the long term problem.  Who's responsibility is it to solve this problem?

"To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;"  Article I, Section 8, US Constitution, Powers Vested to Congress

Introducing Nathan S Webster, Photographer

via waronterrornews.typepad.com/cgtwa/

"Just a few hundred yards from the Tigris River, the mission took place during a hot morning, probably 110 degrees by 8 a.m. Iraq soldiers searched an unused compound close to the dirt river road, while Vergo positioned his two men in one corner. They all stayed out of the creeping sun."
"Sometimes there's a cool breeze, out by the river,” Pfc. Walter Grochwina says to the other, Pfc. Nick Knickerbocker, as both kneel and sweat in the dirt and dust.

“Haven't felt a breeze today,” Knickerbocker says."

Read the rest at "Can't Give This War Away," the newest addition to the WOTN outreach program.  Nathan Webster is a photographer, a Desert Storm Veteran, and embedded with the US Army in Iraq from 2007-2009.  He is currently attempting to attain sufficient pledges of financial backing to print a limited number of books of his work.  It won't take much to get the initial printing done, and it will put it on the road to adding a great book about Our Troops on Coffee Tables across America.  Check him out and take a look at his work. Remember to subscribe to his email subscription, so that you will know when his stories come out.  But don't blame me if he gives different opinions of things.  I don't limit his speech.