Tough Talk with Colonel Hunt

Veteran's Day

50,000 deep on the parade route, all there to say one thing:“Thank you Viet Nam Vets. We love you.” 3,500 people in the parade, one of them me. I never do these kinds of events but my friend asked me to be the Grand Marshall in this Welcome Home Viet Nam Vets Parade, held in Las Vegas, and I said yes. I rode in the back of a “bling-ed” out Hummer with movie, TV and radio star—and my good friend--Jerry Doyle. Truth be told, the tricked out Hummer was a bigger attraction than the two of us “follicley” challenged guys.

At first, I was uncomfortable, waving to people like I was somebody. But then I saw them: the guys in Tiger Fatigues with tears in their eyes, the guys in wheel chairs waving with their one hand or just looking, I don’t know, satisfied or content. They yelled, “WELCOME HOME BROTHER!" Man, that was something.

Then I saw the kids. They all had the day off from school because it was Veteran’s Day and most of them were at the parade because their parents made them go. I’d look at a young boy or girl and wave, then yell, “HOW COME YOU AREN’T IN SCHOOL?" They’d smile and then their Mom or Dad would tell them, “Say thank you.” And they would, embarrassed but happy that some guy in a parade waved only to them.

Vets were yelling, “WHO YOU WITH?" (This was their way of asking what unit you were assigned to.) Guys would yell back: “4th ID,” “25th,”5 Special Forces,” “USS Kentucky,” “I was a TRASH HAULER."

I had to put my sun glasses on. I did not want the kids to see me crying.

After the parade, Vets came up to talk to us, just to say hi or to say thanks. We talked to a former POW who spent 7 ½ years in the Hanoi Hilton. He was on fire when he was shot down--on fire... Some people recognized me from TV, but that day it was not about FOX or me; it was about us and it was about time and I let the crowd wash over me. That day it was about us and we connected; we were home.

I know that that damn War touched us--touched me--in ways that we still do not fully recognize and that we have not fully dealt with, but part of the journey has finally begun. In a way, the day was sad and overwhelming; I missed my Dad and my brother and all of the brothers who are no longer with us and yet in another way, they all seemed to be with me in the parade and I felt full. I felt....like I was home.

Burning Bodies Redux

OK, time to get this one right. Being in combat is very difficult; being in guerilla war is so much worse. There are no battle lines, the bad guys never have uniforms, they seldom stand and fight, they cheat, they cut off your heads, they burn and hang your body from bridges and they fly planes into buildings. It is hell on earth.

Being in combat hurts. It is debilitating. I am not talking about the bar room tough guys or the TV warriors or the muscle guys who walk around telling everyone that they were Navy SEALS and were not; I am talking about having been in real combat—the killed-the-enemy kind of combat.

Most who have done it never talk about it. They almost never tell stories or brag about it and when the guy at the end of the bar or the guy on the blog starts yelling about blood and guts and being real men and a ton of other bullshit, we usually walk away shaking our heads. But I will try one more time to explain it to you...

Soldiers who survive combat do so because of their courage, their training and their buddies. Most soldiers kill only when they have to and do so reluctantly and even then they are affected by it for the rest of their lives. A soldiers’ psyche or what we loosely call their humanity survives only because the horrific act of killing is authorized, legal and rewarded by their government and even then it still leaves scars. This I know.

When we talk about desecrating and burning bodies, an act made illegal in both civilian and military courts, what we are really talking about is the humanity, hearts and souls of our soldiers.

The Code of Conduct, The Rules of Land Warfare, The Geneva Convention, were drawn up and written down, in part, to try to save soldiers’ humanity. They were designed in an effort to protect that which makes them human. If we say it is ok to burn bodies then we send our men and women down the road to hell that is littered with the dismembering of bodies, collecting ears, rape, murder and more.

When we justify our actions by pointing to atrocities committed by the enemy, when we do the things that they do, when we become like them we become them. We become the thing we hate.

What we need are leaders that stop soldiers from doing harm to themselves; leaders that were not present in Afghanistan when soldiers burned two bodies, in broad daylight in front of an film crew.

I don’t care a damn about the Taliban bodies that were burned or the Muslim religious laws that were violated. I don’t give a damn about those things. But I do care that the soldiers who did this will probably be messed up for the rest of their lives. I do care that there leaders did not protect their men and say, “Wait, stop...” I do care that the leaders did not take care of their guys.

Let me be very clear, if burning the bodies was really necessary, then the leaders should have done it and taken the hit for it. They should not have allowed their soldiers to do it. Also, the leaders should have never allowed the cameras to be there--period. I do not agree that the bodies needed to be burned but if the guy on the ground made that call then the leader of that organization should be the one doing the deed.

There are many more aggressive and effective things we should be doing in this War on Terrorism, like killing bad guys in their sleep, using whore houses as intelligence collection points, pitting Imams against other Imams, bombing Damascus and Tehran, finding and killing bin Laden and Zarqawi. These things work; burning bodies only diminishes us and hurts those that do it, in ways to terrible to contemplate and too difficult to explain to those who have never been there.

Other links on this topic:

Stop the ACLU, Cao's Blog and Big Dog's Weblog

BlackFive, Jason Coleman, and Hyscience

or Independent Conservative

Burnt to a Crisp

Using unsavory methods, threatening to do terrible things, faking it, twisting it, propaganda, lying—all of these things are fair in war. (Not in love, but yes, in war.) So, when two American Soldiers were accused of turning two dead Taliban bodies away from Mecca and burning them; it got my attention and probably yours.

I like the idea of letting the Taliban think we are burning bodies. I like the idea of adding things to the fire so that it smells like we are burning dead bodies. . I like the idea of showing the pictures of the burnt, dead bodies. I like all of it, right up to the time when we actually burn the bodies. Actually burning the dead bodies is a HUGE no-no.

We are a nation of laws. We have rules. We have a thing called the code of conduct, and the rules of land mine warfare and the Geneva Conventions. All of those things say that mutilating the enemy is wrong. All of them say that it is actually a crime.

It is very difficult to regulate, legislate or otherwise control the manner in which a human being kills another, be it in War or any other time. It is even more difficult to control soldiers fighting an enemy that does not share the same belief system, laws or concerns.

However, we, as Americans, are expected to do just that. It might not be fair but it is the law.

Our government will investigate and prosecute those responsible, if in fact one of the good guys went stupid and actually burned an enemy soldiers’ body. First let us make sure its true then, punish the guilty and move out.

This is an aberration and should not reflect on the entire American Military but like Abu Ghraib it will to some countries and of course the always "fail" New York Times.

Links to discussions on this topic:

WMD, BlackFive, Riehl World View

New York Did the Right Thing..

Information was “captured” in Iraq was analyzed by the CIA and the FBI. The information was finally sent to those most affected, the people of New York City, who in turn, reacted. New York City did exactly the right thing. The Department of Homeland Security, who gave them the information, did what they usually do. They did nothing and then they passed judgment on those who acted.

New York City has arguably the best large-city police department in the world, especially when it comes to their approach to Terrorism. The Big Apple has its own intelligence service, liaison officers as well as highly trained terrorism experts. The Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, a good man, has real power. He can actually tell people what to do without forming a committee or asking “mother may I” to twelve other politically motivated bureaucrats. Kelly can get things done.

When New York City got the word that they might be attacked by multiple suicide bombers, they did not hesitate. They went full throttle and called out the Terrorists. They went public, the city mobilized and they did all they could and then some.

The Federal government pointed fingers. They carped. They parsed. They blamed. The city of New York yelled at the terrorists, "WE KNOW YOU, WE WILL FIND YOU." The Federal Government said, “We doubt the credibility… blah, blah, blah.

Nice going, New York. Shame on you Department of Homeland Security—again.

What? Katrina was not enough of an embarrassment for you?

Today we learned that the intel was wrong. Yea! No one knew that four days ago. It doesn’t change anything. Those in charge get paid to make tough calls. New York did exactly the right thing.

NEWS LINKS

FOX, AOL, MSNBC, Washington Post

BLOGS

The Counter Terrorism Blog

EDITORIAL

NY Times

They don't care

They don't care about the Soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. So we are clear, THEY are the leaders in the Pentagon; none of them care. Not one from the rank of Lieutenant to Four Star General--not the Civilian Managers. None of them care about the Soldiers and Marines fighting for us. The guys fighting for us already don't get adequate pay, adequate housing, or adequate training. They don't get adequate veterans benefits. All of that is bad enough, but it is OUTRAGEOUS that they do not get adequate gear.

We have talked here before about the embarrassing fact that deploying soldiers are paying, on average, $1,000.00 dollars out of their own already drained pockets for such items as boots, water bags, GPS and, of course, protective vests.

This is not an Air Force issue nor is it a Navy--unless you are talking about the SEALs. Those two services live like royalty compared to Soldiers and Marines. I am not saying that the boys in blue and they boys in white are not brave; they are. They are doing a great job, but they do not have the lack of equipment issues that befall the Army and Marine Corps.

Congress, not the Department of Defense, cared enough--if you can you believe that. They passed a law that directs "...the Secretary to reimburse service members who purchased, or had another person purchase on their behalf, any protective, safety, or health equipment for use while deployed in connection with Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, or Operation Iraqi Freedom."

So, guess what the Pentagon did? They objected. They took a year to put in place a plan and a process to handle the requests. To this day, they have not given the money to Soldiers and Marines.

You're kidding me right? We pay our service men and women next to nothing. We have to send them on three and four tours back to Iraq because our leaders did not get it right the first time. We have almost 2,000 killed and over 19,000 wounded and the government cannot or will not get them the money. This is wrong. Time to throw the bullshit flag and fire the lot of them.

Here We Go Again...

Another pissed off woman, this one named Rita, is about to do THE Damn Damn on the Gulf Coast. Her Bitch of a Twisted Sister, Katrina, almost toppled a government besides destroying 90 square miles of three states and making hundreds of thousands of Americans homeless over night, not to mention exposing those in our government, from city to federal, as incompetent idiots.

Now, Rita is having at us. She is moving like a slow death train--full of fury and destruction—headed for Galveston and Houston, Texas.

The pundits are explaining things and the politicians are ahead of the panic car this time.

Texas ain’t Louisiana, we are told. Texas will not allow the problems of New Orleans to happen there. There will certainly not be the total lack of governmental assistance to tens of thousands of citizens that we saw with Katrina.

I am betting that this time we will get it right.  The cities are taking the right steps. The states are taking the right steps and the federal government is really taking the right steps.

It is so disappointing that we always need more than one bite at the apple to get things right.

We hope and pray that no one gets hurt and thank God for our police, fire, first responders and, of course, military for coming to our rescue--AGAIN.

9/11 and Katrina

Today is the fourth anniversary of 9/11. Some want to celebrate because we haven't been attacked in four years. Some in our government will want to tell us that the fact that we have not been attacked in four years is demonstrable proof that we are safer now than we were before 9/11. Ah...no. Terrorists have not struck within the United States in the past four years but we were, in fact, attacked. We were attacked by a god damn storm named Katrina. Katrina showed us the damn truth. We are not any safer and we are not prepared. We are a damn mess.

We have the best Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Air Force in the world. They are fighting for us every day in Afghanistan and Iraq and all over the planet. They are doing their job. However, many in our government are not doing what our soldiers are doing in 125 degree heat...their jobs.

Time to get off the couch. Time to get involved. Time for you to do your jobs. Tell the supposed leaders of your cities and states and your federal government that you will not tolerate what happened in New Orleans.

This isn't politics; it is just the facts, Jack. We just got our ass kicked and we need to fix what is broken...now. It is time to vote out of office those that were not doing their jobs. Remember what happened on 9/11 by fixing what happened during Katrina.

We had five days to prepare for Katrina. We will get no warning on the next 9/11. Actually we just got our warning, it was a hurricane.

Family Feud...or Shoot the Looters

Here is how it would go if I were in charge: if you are taking food, water, diapers, medicine or clothes for your family because you need this stuff to survive until the help gets there, then you get a pass--maybe.

But if you are taking plasma TVs or jewelry or other unnecessary things, give your heart to God ‘cause your ass belongs to me and I am going to shoot it off.

My son Evan, he of the large frame and manly blog named Vagus—groan, Vagus indeed--is really the Demon Seed from my manly loins  and thinks all looters should be given a credit card and a hot dog to make the looting easier.

Kids! Well, Vagus is hardly a kid and his nicknames of "Decon" and "Mountain" are well earned but...geeez I know I gave him some common sense along the way...or did I forget to do that too?

Even Now...

We are watching the abandonment of a people.  Our government’s abandonment of its poorest, destitute, sick and lame--people who did not have a car and could not get on a bus to get out of New Orleans. We are watching people--American Citizens--die on Interstate 10 in New Orleans. They are dying because their government-- city, state and yes, federal--did not care enough to do what ever it took to save them.

A few facts: Hurricane Katrina, was a Category 1 windbag in Florida. She then did a smart left face and marched across the Gulf toward New Orleans and we all watched it become a Category 5 Breath of God.  The Sunday before this baby hit, The Director of FEMA, the totally incompetent Mr. Brown, said on Fox, that this storm was worse than we imagined. So, my friends, they--the cities, the states and yes, our federal government-- damn well knew this was coming.

To those who say it is every individual’s own fault for not getting out of the cities answer this: what about those too poor to move or too goddamn sick? What about those thousands we left in hospitals or the 80 who the Navy found dead in an old folks home? Jesus! The death toll in New Orleans will be in the thousands, most of which did not die from the direct results of the hurricane.

So, ok we feel better now that the National Guard has actually showed up, the politicians have cried and the sun is still shinning. Guess what? There is still no one in charge; FEMA is still fighting with the National Guard. The National Guard is fighting with the Active Force. Senator’s are complaining that their state is not getting enough and NO ONE IS IN CHARGE. The National Guard is working for the governor, the Navy, the Army, the Air Force are working for the President and we all know that dog won’t hunt.

We need ONE person in charge. We need all the help to move in the same direction. Save everyone! Fix everything! Rebuild!

This is not about politics; this is about saving American lives. This is not about democrats or republicans, blue states or red, this is about American Citizens dying on an overpass because they could not get water or food for FIVE days. This is about American Citizens living in shit, being murdered and raped and dying on National Television while those in charge played the blame game. Fire them all! Put a Army Sergeant or Marine Corporal or Navy Chief in charge.

This is still The United Damn States of not West Africa.

Honor a Soldier--Get It Right!

It is time to stop calling people traitors, cowards and losers who say that the war in Iraq is not going well—‘cause it ain’t. It is time to stop blaming them for the incompetence we are all witnessing. The Press is not just reporting bad news for the sake of reporting bad news. They are reporting bad news because there are too many officers with too many power point slides briefing too many higher ups asking permission from too many to allow the press to show the good things. Listen, the US Government controls Iraq and it should be controlling at least part of the message the press reports back to us--but it can not. It can not because once again they can not get out of their own way.

Our men and women have inoculated every child in Iraq. We have built over 3000 schools and Iraq is pumping oil at 97 percent capacity. But you would not know that. Johnnie and Jane Soldier are doing a great job, but the fact remains that it is easier to get a picture of a burning tank than it is to get an Army General or Colonel to allow the press anywhere near the good things going on.

Yes, some in the press--like the New York Times have an anti-war agenda--but much of the bad press situation comes from a piss poor effort on the part of the Department of Defense to get, what in reality, is mostly a good story—but—and here is the but...

The status quo is no longer acceptable: Over 880 murders have occurred in the last month in Baghdad and that does not including road side or suicide bombings. In addition, there have been over 700 attacks--on our forces--per week. That number is up by over 100 attacks per week from a year ago. That is not good. Better said, that is very bad.

Time for a lesson in warfare: Insurgencies are not won. They end when the other side stops fighting. The only way they will stop fighting is when we kill enough of them so that they decide fighting isn't worth it.

There are people who know how to do this--who have done it before. Settle down, this is not Vietnam. But if we don’t fix it now, the comparisons will be unavoidable and it will be very regrettable because it does not need to be that way. We need to get the experienced people involved now. We need to fire the people who are screwing this up--like Patraeus, Casey and Pete Pace. They wear the uniform they should know better than this. Put a Special Forces Captain in charge. This is what Special Forces guys are trained to do; it is time to set them loose and let them do their job.

As for Rummy, fire him if you want, it doesn’t really matter because he is a political appointee; he is what he is.

The fault is not just with the military--not by a long shot. The State Department and the CIA are rotating their men and women to Iraq for just 90 days. You can’t do anything in 90 days. You cannot unpack your bags, get used to the heat, the food or the dust storms in 90 days. You clearly cannot effectively spy in 90 days. Any organization that would think so little of the effort that they approve deployments for only 90 days is a leaderless, insipid and just plain stupid organization.

So, fire somebody. Put people who know the deal in charge. Kill the bad guys. Kill lots of them and kill them now. Get it right.

We honor our men and women in uniform, those serving out of uniform and those who have lost all and those who are missing parts of themselves by getting this right and more Iranians help the terrorists or another soldier dies because he or she does not have the right body armor because we did not care we dishonor them. Get it right! Fix it right now! Now means this very minute--not tomorrow, not after a meeting, not after breakfast, right damn now, damn it!