Perspectives

Is NATO Being Misused? Or is it being transformed into something different?

The NATO operation in Libya has been causing questions from the very beginning, but in reviewing the most recent NATO Briefing on the operation and recent comments by SecDef Gates, SecState Clinton, and high level officials of NATO itself, one must ask what is the future of NATO and is its present form within the constraints of its mandate, or is it being transformed into something new.  This is not the first time NATO has been used in a manner different than its mandate, but it is far different to use an existing infrastructure on a voluntary basis and to infer a requirement that individual members act in a non-defensive operation.

Before one can answer the question of Libyan Operations being within the mandate of NATO, one must first realize what NATO was created for and how that mission can continue.  NATO was created as a defense to the Soviet Empire, following the Cold War.  In a nutshell, signatories agree that "an attack on one member is an attack on all members," and hence all members must participate in the military response to the aggressor.  The NATO Charter did not specifically say if the Soviet Union attacked, all would respond, nor did it state that if one member decided war was necessary, that all must join.

YW: Cleaning Up Your WikiPage

Don't like your Wikipedia page? Yon has an ap for that!  It begins in a classic Yon style; throw out some vague accusations that you are being persecuted to your fan base.  Wikipedia strongly discourages individuals from unduely influencing their own Wiki pages, so you'll need trusted fans to do it for you.  In fact the Michael Yon page was at one point noted for being a fluff piece that relied solely on his own claims.  It was changed from sourcing Yon's site to sourcing articles written by Yon on other sites or interviews of Yon by fans of Yon.  The effect was the same: It was Yon in Yon's words. [Date/time stamps added to Yon thread headers.  Other comments in these threads are merged on topics, from across those 3 threads.]

Arrogant Insolence Runs Rampant

In a very big way, it was a Memorial Day ride that brought War On Terror News to be.  It was my first Memorial Day in the United States following several years of service in distant lands, some more dangerous than others, but in each case, at the behest of the American People, through the orders of their elected Representatives. 

I had been back for a few months and it was a low point for support of American Troops, and the policies and missions the Troops had been sent to enforce.  I found that there were simply too  many people misinformed and ignorant of the facts, to restrict my experiences and knowledge to only those I knew, or met.

That Memorial Day, I traveled from place to place by myself, meeting new people, looking for solace.  I didn't want to be alone, nor did I want to be surrounded by those who couldn't be bothered to remember why they weren't at work.  I didn't want to be thanked and I didn't want to argue.  I just wanted to be around those that understood.  That day, I finally found that place, at a VFW Post, but the stops along the way were less than gratifying. 

Since that day, I've seen improvement in American support for her Warriors & Protectors, but the Maxine comic scratched the scab.  I'd like to think that War On Terror News is a part of that improvement, but the reality is that many Veterans have contributed to filling the hole the MSM creates.  And let me enter into evidence the words of one Civilian, who does understand, who uses her platform to give voice to those that have given the most Our Citizens can offer.

Is a Soldier's Death More Important Than Others?

Each year, in the United States, approximately 40,000 people are killed on American roads.  Over the last few years, approximately 40,000 people have been killed in Drug Cartel crimes in Mexico.  Recent Tornado's killed approximately 140 in the American South.  The final count on deaths from Tsunamis in Japan and previously Thailand will never be known for certain, but thousands and more than a 100,000 are conservative estimates.  Thousands of Afghan civilians and Thousands of Iraqi civilians are killed by terrorists every year.

Yet, the MSM doesn't publish the daily body counts in the Mexican Drug War, those of Iraqi based terrorists, Palestinian based terrorists, Afghanistan based terrorists, Pakistan based terrorists, civilian suicides, or those killed on American roadways, not even those killed by drug-crazed or drunken drivers.  They do give the daily body count of any American Servicemember remotely connected to Afghanistan (and used to do so on those remotely connected to Iraq).  Conversely, they'll use hours of broadcast time to tell the life stories of journalists that are killed in a combat zone, even if due to their own decisions to be in places of known extreme risk, as if the journalist were a saint.

War On Terror News does not report Fallen Soldiers as mere numbers, but by name.  Conversely, we also don't report on numbers or names of civilians killed by cars, or suicide.  This bears the question: Is a Soldier's Death  more important than a Civilian's?

No, it is not more important, but the way a man or woman lives is different.  No one can or should rejoice that someone has died.  No one is immune from bereavement when a loved one dies.  If a loved one is killed in a car accident, a tsunami, old age, or  war, it leaves a hole in the lives of all that truly knew them.  The families of the fallen are not immune from that, and neither is the grandson of a 90 year old woman.  But it is easier for our minds to justify the loss of someone to old age than for a mother to adjust to the loss of a child.