BITTERNESS & THE FIRST WAR ON TERROR

We live in a time where evil has made great inroads into our nation and for those who are looking it is rearing its ugly head and leaving destruction in its wake.

One of the powerful forces of evil is bitterness. I have watched how bitterness in our nation is destroying the integrity of our country. I noticed with the close election decided in the courts, the election of President Bush. The Democratic Party had lost control of the House, the Senate and now the Presidency. They were poor sports consumed with bitterness a form of self justification not taking the responsibility for their defeats, disrespecting the will of the people and from bitterness to self justification they immediately vented their anger and became vindictive attacking our president relentlessly to a point where they justify saying anything and blaming our president for everything that happens.

I think we have all encountered Bush haters and you have seen how relentless they are in their attacks that are spreading across our nation with people unhappy-looking for someone to blame-they jump on the band wagon and how ridiculous they are as they blame him for everything that happens.

But now the bitterness has been extrapolated out by politicians, intensified by the press, and leeched onto our righteous war against terrorism-with the press and certain politicians making the war our to be a folly where in fact it is their amassed, poisoned bitterness against Bush talking.

After all this tripe and lies built from bitterness, it reaches its ugly tentacles out to even the greatest patriots of us all.

My hope in writing this piece is to strengthen our soldiers and try and warn them away from indulging in bitterness. Although I think you will find it applies to everyone including our nation.

William Eaton - the First SF Soldier

There is a little known patriot who loved this country risked his life to sacrifice and serve us. His last deed is remembered in the Marine Corps Hymn in the phrase... "from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli." He is considered by many to be our first Special Forces Soldier.

I speak of a dutiful Yankee by the name of William Eaton (born Feb. 23, 1764, Woodstock, Conn. Died June 1, 1811. Brimfield, Mass.). Eaton was a U.S. Army officer and adventurer and for we in U.S. Special Forces, he is considered "America's first SF trooper. "

Eaton's father, a schoolmaster and farmer, moved to Mansfield about 1774. At the age of fifteen Eaton joined Washington's Continental Army in 1780 and served until 1783, having attained the rank of sergeant. Feared so greatly by the British enemy of the day, he was captured and  sent to England as a POW. Following our War of Independence he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1790 where he showed an affinity for languages. By 1791 he was clerk of the House of Delegates; in 1792 he accepted a captain's commission in the army, which he held until July 11, 1797 fighting bloody campaigns against the Miami Indians along the colonial frontier in fierce, valiant actions.

Eaton served under Major General "Mad Anthony" Wayne. General Wayne assigned Eaton to the American Legion, an early Special Operations Unit, where Eaton learned guerrilla warfare, rapid movement, living off the land and Indian languages. He infiltrated the Miami villages and gathered intelligence. After leaving the Army the government put him to work as a counterespionage agent. Eaton trapped and arrested a spy, then fed false information to the Spanish that resulted in a new, favorable treaty between Spain and the United States. The Adams administration rewarded Eaton by appointing him U.S. Consul at Tunis, North Africa, by then President John Adams.

Eaton had developed a passion for the Arab world reading the Koran twice and everything else he could find on Islam, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. He even began to learn Arabic. He told the Adams Administration he would be happy to be named Consul to Tunis. Eaton's happiness over receiving his dream assignment faded quickly as he settled into Tunis and began his job.

For several years he was engaged in a series of negotiations and altercations with the "Bey" of Tunis in reference to the annual payment of tribute money, and acted with a boldness and tact that secured to the commerce of US  Merchant shipping an immunity from the attacks of Tunisian cruisers... yet all of this, was just a preamble for what was to follow...Eaton was outraged over the Barbary rulers imperiousness and it showed in his correspondence, O'Brian of Algiers and Cathcawt of Tripoli two other consuls in the Middle East believed that, with encouragement, the Barbary States gradually would embrace legitimate trade and abandon piracy. Eaton however was convinced Barbary would never change willingly. "The United States set out wrongly and have proceeded so... there is but one language which can be held to these people and this is terror. After a frustrating year O'Brian and Cathcawt came around to Eaton's view. Cathcawt, Eaton and O'Brian sent letters urging that a naval force be sent to Barbary all hinting resignation.

"... Too long for the honor of nations, have those barbarians been suffered to trample on the sacred faiths of treaties on the rights and laws of human nature."

Thomas Jefferson

"I have got you, you Christian dogs, you shall eat stones"

Algiers's Bey Hassan Pasha greeting American captives in 1793.

The Barbary Muslim states were the epitome of evil. Their game was human trafficking and extortion. With all the nations economies depending on trade. Similar to our situation with oil. The Barbary Muslim states engaged in piracy.

Forced to pay tribute in treaties. The players to mention a few, Russia, Austria, Poland, Naples, Sardinia, Genoa, Malta, France, Spain, England, Venice, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, the United States and more. Rather than destroy the Barbary Muslim states all these nations were competing against one another and used treaties as a way to out-maneuver their competition. It was horrible. The Barbary Muslim pirates grew more powerful raiding merchant ships, and confiscating everything they could. They would strip their captives of everything including their clothes and then the crews and passengers were either held for ransom or sold in the slave markets. Families were auctioned off in pieces, one account of an Irish family brought tears to most eyes as they watched the children, mother and father sold off separately never to be heard from again in a life of torment. England and other powerful nations could have put a stop to this but they used the Barbary Muslim pirates against their competitors. Other nations were just weak-they would rather pay then fight. As this went on the Barbary Muslim states grew more powerful. The United States under the Jefferson Administration would end this, setting an example to the world.

Before Jefferson took the presidential oath in March 1801 he was intimate with the situation and also like Eaton, Jefferson had read the Koran and studied his enemies. He knew there was only one way to resolve this, by force. It was time to serve a warning to the Barbary Muslim states and raise Americas reputation in Europe... It would strike with astonishment those who for a succession of ages submitted to the most humiliating indignities wantonly inflicted upon them by handful of Muslims.

It was time for the U.S. to show the Barbary Muslim states its talons. The United States embarked on its first distant foreign war without congress even being informed, much less consulted. This has been much forgotten in recent history. America's first "war on terror" 1801 - 1805. Of course like any other war we have been in it would have its ups and downs and Jefferson would take the heat. Right from the start we used measured force and at home the budget for Americas Naval Fleet was chopped reducing ships and personnel. Then there would be the choice of Commanders: few good most awful. The tactics employed were to blockade Tripoli, and hunt their ships, it was effective. But for some reason Commodore Dale stopped doing what was working and for two years the excuses poured into Jefferson: too late in the season for offensive operations, they lacked the warships to be successful, and they were too busy conveying and protecting merchant ships. Commodore Dale perversely interpreted his orders to mean he couldn't attack Tripoli, but only defend U.S. interests and capture enemy corsairs at sea. Opportunities were lost as the war dragged on.

A new leader entered: Commodore Prebble who turned things around. He was aggressive, fierce and courageous. He would leave his mark on the men he commanded, they took on his traits in war. Later in 1812 his protégés' proved to be most effective against the British.

Prebble went on the attack bombarding Tripoli and capturing as many corsairs as possible showing the Bey something he had not expected. He changed everything and he had momentum going in our favor until the Philadelphia went aground on an uncharted sandbar resulting in the ship and crew's capture. And Prebble was relieved. I point these events out because it is so important to select the right Commanders and when Jefferson finally had the right guy doing the job he wanted he relieved him. Prebble was replaced with a much less aggressive Commodore which produced no results.

After Eaton's expulsion from Tunis in 1803 he made a plea to Jefferson's cabinet with only Smith the Secretary of the Navy giving him support for his proposal. The Secretary of War Henry Dearborn believed it would be too great an effort and expense to send troops to Barbary, which is what Eaton proposed. Dearborn thought it would be easier and cheaper to pay tribute to the savages of Tripoli Eaton noted as he was turned down.

June 1804: Jefferson, getting desperate, summoned Eaton and had a private unrecorded meeting. Eaton was sent on a top secret mission. While the government would not commit troops it would support an insurgency by the deposed Hamid Karamanl, the legitimate ruler of Tripoli: with his family being kept hostage there by the Bey. Because of Eaton's' experience in the North African region. In 1803 he won President Jefferson's approval for a plan to settle U.S. maritime differences with Tripoli and he was appointed Navy agent for the Barbary Regencies. After receiving the appointment of U.S. Naval agent to the Barbary States, he accompanied the American fleet to the Mediterranean. William Eaton arguably was America's first modern intelligence operative, as the appellation later would apply to agents who gathered information in hostile territory and then analyzed and acted on it.

A striking blue-eyed man of slightly above average height, Eaton was both a thinking man and a man of action. Above all, he possessed the ability to concentrate his force on a single object. Well-educated and articulate, he was fluent in at least four Arabic dialects, all learned during his Barbary consulship. He also could speak four American Indian languages, and at Dartmouth had studied French, Latin, and Greek. His prodigious daily output of letters and journal entries rivaled any diplomat's. He also happened to be a crack rifle shot, could hit a target with a knife thrown from 80 feet, and was an expert with the scimitar, a weapon that had captivated him during his early days in Tunis; he had mastered the art of twirling it over his head - a trick few besides the janissaries of Constantinople could perform proficiently.

By then negotiations proved to be then, (as they are today) worthless with the Cutthroat mentality of the Muslim coastal raiders. Honoring treaties and agreements dissipated and U.S. shipping along the North African Coast at that time - much like it is today in present day Somalia ---  was under constant siege from the North African Barbary Pirates under the previous naval Agent, Eaton had replaced. Pope Pius VII said that under Agent Eaton's orders, Americans "had done more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom have done for ages". However, the reigning Pasha of Tripoli, Jussuf Caramalli, not taking the U.S. position seriously, gained the throne by deposing his brother Hamet which led to a series of resumed attacks on U.S. vessels.

As the new Naval Agent, Eaton set out to find the deposed leader of Tripoli, Hamet Karamanlli, and create an alliance with him.  For Eaton was determined to ensure U.S. interests were to remain, in tact. On learning that Hamet had taken refuge in Egypt, Eaton sought him out, and with the sanction of the government proposed to reinstate him to his rightful position as ruler of Tripoli. Assisting Eaton was U.S. Navy Captain Samuel Barron. Who led the largest flotilla assembled under the American flag up to that time: six frigates, seven brigs, and ten gunboats - as well as his other weapon on board his flagship, Eaton himself.

Eaton knew that Tripoli could be taken if ground troops were committed or if the political climate of the city could be altered. Eaton planned to do both. His scheme called for fomenting rebellion to supplant Yusuf with his brother Hamet. To achieve his design Eaton had at his disposal $20,000 in cash, and 1,000 muskets, the little brig Argus, and a cadre of nine men. One of the latter was a midshipmen-man by the name of Pascal Paoli Peck, and the other eight were United States Marines led by Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon. This handful of men would share in an incredible adventure little recalled today except in the Marine Corps Hymn.

Eaton and the puppet Hamet met at Alexandria, Egypt but not until after an arduous search to find Hamet. Eaton did not know where he was hiding from the Bey who was trying to have him murdered. Hamet agreed to attack Yusuf's Port of Derna. In that city Hamet had some support.

All odds were against Eaton. Commodore Barron followed Smith's orders dutifully, although choosing to interpret them in the narrowest of sense that obligated him to commit the least resources to Eaton. Eaton had many enemies in the Navy for the complaints he lodged while consul in Tunisia against the weak Commodores and their lack of action. Using his personal funds to supplement what he was given Eaton was on a prayer and a hope.

From Alexandria to this place there is not a living stream, nor rivulet,

Nor spring of water.

-----William Eaton, in his journal of the expedition

By promising riches and plunder after victory, "General" Eaton, as Hamet dubbed him, recruited probably the strangest army to march under the stars and stripes. Eleven nationalities Greek, Italian, Tripolitians, Egyptians, Frenchmen, Arabs, Americans, and British. There were about six hundred in all.

Wherever General Eaton leads, we will follow. If he wants to march us to hell, we'll gladly go there... The General always knows what to say and do, in any situation.

-----Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon, USMC, from his account of the desert march

The expedition would be supplied by sea, and the Argus would pace the marchers just offshore. The Argus' cannon would provide Eaton with minimal naval support, and her eight Marines were added to the rabble army. The motley force with the small detachment of Marines and about 200 Christian and 300 Muslim mercenaries led by Eaton and O'Bannon moved out of Alexandria on March 8, 1805, along a route made famous during World War II by Rommel and Montgomery's staff consulting maps of Eaton's expeditions.

Two of Eaton's rest stops were at Tobruk and El Alamein. Eaton's army, like those of the future would suffer from the sandstorms of the Khamsin wind, which brings darkness at midday. However, Eaton's force managed to trek over 500 miles while stopping arguments, threats, strikes and mutinies which originated from difference of opinion between his European and Arab soldiers. Eaton masterfully faced down each insurrection and constantly pulled rabbits out of hats to keep his Army intact. They were starving and had little water and sometimes none! Eaton was tested in every way. Every SF Team Leader should read this tale it was just unbelievable his skill in holding them together.

On the march Eaton's Arab cavalry threatened to mutiny many times. Eaton outfaced the horde with a show of bayonets from his squad of eight Marines. Eventually Eaton's $20,000 was drained along with all his personal funds he contributed. The Argus lost contact with the march about 90 miles from Derna, just as the land force's food gave out. Some of the mercenaries vowed to quit, but Eaton coaxed them to eat a pack camel and wait a day or so. Fortunately the Argus reappeared on April 16, followed by the Hornet with food and munitions. After a few days rest, Eaton resumed his advance, and arrived outside Derna on April 25 1805.

Unaware that Eaton's Army was poised to strike at Tripoli's second largest city Derna, Jefferson and his officials had begun to doubt whether there would be an honorable peace with Tripoli. Frustrated U.S. leaders including Jefferson were ready to throw the towel in and trim down the Naval Squadron to a skeletal force.

Hidden in the sparsely wooded hills overlooking Derna, Eaton reconned the city, formed a plan and coordinated with the Argus.

Derna, Saturday, April 27, 1805.

I shall see you tomorrow in a way of your choice.

---William Eaton in a letter to Mustafa Bey, governor of Derma

My head or yours,

---Mustafa Bey

At 1:30 P.M. the fight began. Dernas shore batteries fired on our three U.S. Warships in the harbor. As the fight developed Eaton saw that he must attack now or he would lose control of his men. They surged across open ground toward the walled city. Out numbered 10 to 1 by the defenders, but the brazen frontal assault threw them into a panic and retreat into the city. As Eaton's ranks thinned from causalities, Eaton pressed the charge. Suddenly Eaton was hit and O'Bannon took charge. The assault cleared the batteries of the enemy in close combat. O'Bannon and his Marines ran up the American flag --- the first time the stars and stripes was planted on a hostile foreign shore by U.S. troops.

The Americans turned around the enemies cannons opening fire on the retreating government soldiers. A little after 4:30 p.m. the city was taken.

This was the first decisive victory in the Barbary war and an amazing personal triumph for Eaton. Eaton had crossed 520 miles of forbidding desert and captured Tripoli's second largest city from a large armed force waiting behind prepared fortifications, at a cost of two Marines dead and several wounded including himself.

The next morning Yusuf's Army counter-attacked and after five days of failed attacks they retreated to Tripoli. This caused Usuf great alarm. Tobias Lean the new Barbary consul general seized on the opportunity created by Eaton, with Commodore Barron in ailing health he denied Eaton money, supplies and the 100 Marines he had requested. Eaton's expenses had far exceeded the $20,000 to $30,000. Lean quickly negotiated a peace and the release of the crew of the Philadelphia paying a $60,000 ransom. Way more than the cost of Eaton's expedition. Betrayed by Lean, Eaton had to abandon his advance to attack Tripoli and reinstate Hamet.

Eaton and Hamet had to flee from the shores of Tripoli with the Marines and Christian mercenaries to escape certain death at the hands of their angry followers, for whom peace would end all prospects of reward. What the fearless Eaton might have accomplished with the one hundred or more marines who were idle aboard Barron's squadron is tantalizing to imagine.

The negotiated treaty with Yusuf called for the release of all prisoners, an end to slave taking and ship seizure, and a final ransom of $60,000. Yusuf was more than eager to sign fearing Eaton. American naval presence had destroyed his normal source of revenue, and he had been alarmed at the success of Eaton's ragtag army. The Bey of Tunis, seeing what had happened to Tripoli, sent a blooded horse to Jefferson as a sign of peace and the end of tribute. Jefferson a horseman, refused the gift. The Americans now thought that the Mediterranean was safe for United States' shipping and brought Barron's squadron home.

Jefferson had intended peace be made through the expedient of war but Lean had stopped Eaton so he could take the credit. I fear we stopped too short. William Eaton in a letter to Thomas Dwight. Fuming over Lean and Barron's abandonment of his expedition. On his return to the United States, General Eaton was well received, and honorably mentioned in the president's message, but failed to obtain compensation from the government for his pecuniary losses, or such recognition as he expected. Massachusetts, "desirous to perpetuate a remembrance of Eaton's heroic enterprise," granted him 10,000 acres of land, and in acknowledgment of his release of some rescued Danish captives he was presented with a gold box by the King of Denmark.

Eaton began to brood over the war's disappointing outcome believing he and Hamet should have marched on Tripoli and freed the captives. As Eaton pondered on his disappointment he became bitter over the web of broken promises and betrayal. Eaton and the crew of the Philadelphia received a hero's welcome. Even though Eaton was treated like a hero and given credit for his deeds he still grew more bitter.

Despite a brief resumed assault toward U.S. interests , in the fall of 1807, where Algiers detained three vessels via three bad habits, pirate's, terrorism, and tribute, when the American navy once again sailed against Barbary, we had skirmishes up until the post 1815 period. From then on, the "old powers" never again molested any American ships. Swift and firm actions led by Eaton's Predecessor Admiral Decatur, impelled the other European powers to follow the American example. The degrading yoke of tribute and the raiding of the Muslim Barbary corsairs were over.

America's involvement in the Tripolian War suppressed Muslim pirate terrorism in the Mediterranean only after resolute action. It also saw the development of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps with their proud traditions, and for the first time America made its presence known, not as a "fat duck" but as an eagle in the world of the old empires.

Eaton played a key roll at a crucial time bringing terrorism to an end with the Barbary Muslims for most of the world to see. He should have been grateful for the success even though things didn't go his way. Instead Eaton indulged in bitterness spreading his disappointment to anyone who would listen. Alienating himself from his friends and poisoning the prospects of being of further service to his country. His remaining days were spent drinking in the local taverns telling his bitter story. It was a sad end to a great warrior and patriot.

As a soldier you can find many excuses to become bitter. An unappreciative country in denial of our enemies and all the other unfair things we experience as a soldier. The possibilities are countless. My message here is to resist the powerful urge to indulge in bitterness.

In my hopes to deter you from bitterness I will try and define and give you the mechanics of how bitterness works so you can recognize and not fall into the trap of bitterness.

I will start with the definition of bitterness. The dictionary definition states:

Bitterness is an emotion which encompasses feelings of anger and hatred. It is often a feeling of resentment directed towards others for reasons of discrimination, neglect, jealousy, or trauma. Often, bitterness comes after a bad experience.

But I define bitterness as... Failure to take responsibility for how we react to everything that happens to us in our lives, both our own bad decisions and all the unfair things that happen to all of us. Replacing responsibility with blame.

We all have a tendency to want to shift responsibility or blame someone or something. It started with Adam in the Garden. After he had eaten the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the Lord appeared, Adam first blamed Eve and then blamed the Lord for giving him Eve. We have all been there at one time or another and that's where bitterness starts.

Now I will break down the mechanics or process of bitterness for you. I think you will recognize these things either from people you have seen or maybe you have had your own fight with bitterness.

We can't control many things that happen to us in this life. We all become victims of our own bad decisions or injustice that happens, not getting promoted, an award, recognition goes to the wrong person, bad luck, etc. But we have a responsibility to ourselves on how we handle and react to these things.

We decide whether to suck it up move on and make the most of a bad situation or we can indulge in self pity and look to place the blame somewhere else.

It's easy to blame. We start rationalizing and find someone to take the blame. We all have known people that never make a mistake it is always someone else's fault.

At the blame stage our self defense mechanism kicks in and we move into a self serving system of self deception lying to oneself and others giving wrong and false explanations or even convenient memory loss. Allowing us to justify our motivations and behaviors. This puts us into a state of denial. Bitter people are always right never wrong.

Now comes the nasty part self indulgence which manifests itself in many ways. Love turns to hate and happiness turns to malice the desire to hurt people. Bitter people are often jealous or trouble makers. Some examples are maligning people, being vindictive taking revenge, rage, hate, etc. All justified through anger.

This is where people get hurt. Bitterness is a destructive force. The bitter person starts spreading his bitterness like a disease. It disrupts and dishonors your fellow soldiers, your unit and everyone coming in contact. One bad apple can spoil the rest. Even the ones that resist will be affected, because we all are members of a team and the actions of one or a few effect the whole, bringing down morale, destroying authority, which can result in a chain reaction of events up to getting soldiers killed in combat.

The way to turn bitterness around or avoid bitterness is through responsibility. Responsibility is freedom and by taking personal responsibility for your life not looking for blame one can remain focused on solutions and move forward avoiding the traps of bitterness.

Integrity, honor and humility are important in fighting bitterness. Anyone that has lived in this world should have figured out that life is unfair. My favorite saying is shit happens and when it does we have to kick ourselves in the ass and make the most out of our circumstances however unfair they may be. We owe it to ourselves, our fellow soldiers, our families and country. Focus on solutions, remain positive, never give up hope and be courageous. You will be a silent hero as no one will know. Take satisfaction in being noble rising above bitterness and doing the right thing. Remember Robert E. Lee's credo and one of the main messages of the New Testament: "Deny thyself." Just do what you have to do-to do the right thin-and don't expect a single reward except the knowledge in your own heart you did the right thing and didn't grouse or become bitter.

I am not going to blow smoke up your ass and say it's easy. Especially when you have served your country and have come back unwhole from injuries, memories of your buddies dying in combat to an ungrateful nation where our politicians have betrayed you and your efforts. But I can tell you if you take the path of bitterness you will destroy yourself and spread your poison to others.

Hooah!
Dave Thomas

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"Double Tap"

A Marine/Soldier response to a simple question. Regarding the news blurb about the Marine who put two rounds ("double tap") in a wounded insurgent's head in Fallujah, here's a response from a Marine:

"It's a safety issue, pure and simple. After assaulting through a target, we put a security round in everybody's head. Sorry al-Reuters, there's no paddy wagon rolling around Fallujah picking up "prisoners" and offering them a hot cup o' joe, falafel, and a blanket. There's no time to dick around on the target. You clear the space, dump the chumps, and move on.

Are Corpsman expected to treat wounded terrorists? Negative. Hey Libs, worried about the defense budget? Well, it would be waste, fraud, and abuse for a Corpsman to expend one man-minute or a battle dressing on a terrorist. It's much cheaper to just spend the $.02 on a 5.56mm FMJ.

By the way, in our view, terrorists who chop off civilian's heads are not prisoners, they are carcasses. Chopping off a civilian's head is another reason why these idiots are known as "unlawful combatants." It seems that most of the world's journalists have forgotten that fact.

Let me be very clear about this issue. I have looked around the web, and many people get this concept, but there are some stragglers.

Here is your typical Marine/Soldier sitrep (situation report): You just took fire from unlawful combatants (no uniform - breaking every G eneva Convention rule there is) shooting from a religious building attempting to use the sanctuary status of their position as protection. But you're in Fallujah now, and the Marine Corps/Army has decided that they're not playing that game this time. That was Najaf.

So you set the mosque on fire and you hose down the terrorists with small arms, launch some AT-4s (Rockets), some 40MM grenades into the building and things quiet down. So you run over there, and find some tangos (bad guys) wounded and pretending to be dead. You are aware that suicide martyrdom is like really popular with these idiots, and they think taking some Marines/Soldiers with them would be really cool. So you can either risk your life and your fire team's lives by having them cover you while you bend down and search a guy that you think is pretending to be dead for some reason. Most of the time these are the guys with the grenade or a vest made of explosives. Also, you don't know who or what is in the next room. You're already speaking English to the rest of your fire team or squad which lets the terrorist know you are there and you are his enemy. You are speaking loud because your hearing is poor from shooting people for several days. So you know that there are many other rooms to enter, and that if anyone is still alive in those rooms, they know that Americans are in the mosque. Meanwhile (3 seconds later), you still have this terrorist (that was just shooting at you from a mosque) playing possum. What do you do? You double tap his head, and you go to the next room, that's what!

What about the Geneva Convent ion and all that 'Law of Land Warfare' stuff? What about it? Without even addressing the issues at hand, your first thought should be, "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6."

Bear in mind that this tactic of double tapping a fallen terrorist is a perpetual mindset that is reinforced by experience on a minute by minute basis. Secondly, you are fighting an unlawful combatant in a Sanctuary, which is a double No-No on his part. Third, tactically you are in no position to take "prisoners" because there are more rooms to search and clear, and the behavior of said terrorist indicates that he is up to no good. No good in Fallujah is a very large place and the low end of no good and the high end of no good are fundamentally the same ... Marines or Soldiers end up getting hurt or die. So there is no compellin g reason for you to do anything but double tap this idiot and get on with the mission.

If you are a veteran, then everything I have just written is self evident. If you are not a veteran, at least try to put yourself in the situation. Remember, in Fallujah there is no yesterday, there is no tomorrow, there is only now, Right NOW. Have you ever lived in NOW for a week? It is really, really not easy. If you have never lived in NOW for longer than it takes to finish the big roller coaster at Six Flags, then shut your hole about putting Marines in jail for "War Crimes."

No Ears

A young Marine officer was severely wounded in the head by a grenade, but the only visible permanent injury was to both of his ears, which were amputated. Since his hearing wasn't impaired he remained in the Marine Corps. Many years later he eventually rose to the rank of major general. He was, however, very sensitive about his appearance. One day he was interviewing three Marines, prospects for his headquarters staff.

The first was an aviator captain, and it was a great interview. At the end of the interview the general asked him, "Do you notice anything different about me?" The young officer answered, "Why, yes, Sir, I couldn't help but notice that you have no ears." The general got very angry at his lack of tact and threw him out.

The second interview was with a logistics Lieutenant, and he was even better. The general then asked him the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?" He replied sheepishly, "Well, Sir, you have no ears." The general threw him out also.

The third interview was with a Marine gunnery sergeant, an infantryman and Staff NCO. He was articulate, looked extremely sharp and seemed to know more than the two officers combined. The general wanted this guy, and went ahead with the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?" To his surprise the sergeant said, "Yes, sir, you wear contact lenses."

The general was very impressed and thought, what an incredibly observant NCO, and he didn't mention my ears. "And how do you know that I wear contacts?" the General asked. "Well, sir," the gunny replied, "It's pretty hard to wear glasses with no fuckin' ears."

Tribute to the Media
(something to think about)

I wondered the same thing. I was in I Corp, just south of the DMZ in '66-'67 and we bombed Hanoi and Haipong (harbor) and for the next 30 days, we saw absolutely no Viet Cong, NVA or any signs of war... virtually -- the war came to a halt. Hell, I went surfing in the South China Sea.. We never bombed again... then the fighting escalated... right up to our retreat in '75. General Giap certainly knew that our loss came directly as a result of the press feeding its viewers whatever it took to take the fighting out of the hand of soldiers and put it directly in the hands of politicians... How many wars are we going to fight with no expectation of winning? As Ronald Regan said about the Cold War: "Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win; they lose." If we're going to fight, we should follow that way of thinking. Sorry... I got carried away.

Drake

"What we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi. You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for another day or two, we were ready to surrender! It was the same at the battles of TET. You defeated us! We knew it, and we thought you knew it. But we were elated to notice your media were definitely helping us. They were causing more disruption in America than we could in the battlefields. We were ready to surrender. You had won!"

- General Giap, North Vietnam (memoirs)

Do not fear the enemy, for they can take only your life.
Fear far more the media. They will destroy your honor.

Bitterness Destroys the Spiritual Life

By Rev G.J. Rako
LTC (Ret)
IN USAR

Bitterness manifests itself in anger, hatred, jealousy, revenge, maligning, judging, gossip, self- justification, self-deception, self-centeredness, self-pity, implacability, and malice. To be blunt and cut through the bovine defecation (BS), this is arrogance. Bitterness is the quickest way to destroy relationships; human relationships, and more importantly your relationship with the creator of the universe.

Rom 12:2-3, "Stop being conformed to the trends of this age, but be transformed by the renovation of your thinking, that you may prove what the will of God is: the good, the acceptable to God, the complete. For I say through the grace which has been given to me to everyone who is among you, stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think, but think in terms of sanity as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of thinking from doctrine."

Eph 4:31, "All bitterness, both anger and wrath both quarreling and slander, must be removed from you, along with all malice."

Col 3:19, "Husbands, love your wives, and stop being bitter against them.

Bitter people are miserable people. They destroy their relationships by the various manifestations of bitterness directed toward those they are closest. They cannot have a relationship with the Lord because they are consistently in carnality. They do not confess their sins because in their self-deception and self-justification they believe they have not sinned resulting in self-righteousness. Therefore, they ignore the command found in I John 1:9, and by doing so, they have effectively destroyed their spiritual life.

I John 1:9 If we (believers in Christ) confess our sins to Him (God the Father), He is faithful (He does the same thing over, and over again) and justified (because Christ paid for these sins on the cross) to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

By confessing our sins to God the Father, we appropriate His solution to sin in our lives by grace. Grace means God does the work and we can in no way take credit for His perfect work. Confession of our sins is the only way to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the only way to have fellowship with God. The bitter person will not confess his sins because in his self-justification, he is always right and everyone else is wrong. Therefore, he has no sins to confess. This is self-deception and perpetual carnality.

Hence, the destruction of the spiritual life is complete.

You may find yourself as the object of someone's bitterness. The immediate tendency is to react. Reaction to hatred, anger, vilification, jealousy and the rest of bitterness' manifestations is also sin. This reaction removes you from fellowship with God. It is a test of your spiritual growth. Unjust treatment by others is always a temptation to sin. The reaction itself is the sin of arrogance and by it we "think more highly of ourselves than we ought."

Rom 12:3 For I say through the grace which has been given to me to everyone who is among you, stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think, but think in terms of sanity as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of thinking from doctrine."

Bitterness is contagious like a cancer and causes those near to become defiled with sin.

Heb 12:15, "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springing up cause [you] trouble, and by it many are contaminated."

The solution for the believer in Christ under attack by bitterness is found in many passages of scripture.

Eph 4:32, "But become gracious toward one another, compassionate, and forgiving each other, just as God also by means of Christ has forgiven us."

Rom 12:17-19 Never pay back evil with evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the eyes of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay."

We remain on earth after salvation to glorify God. God is glorified when He can use us for His purpose on earth. He cannot use us unless we fulfill the command to "Grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18). We are to grow in all aspects of Him who is the head, that is Christ (Eph 4:14-15).

Eph 4:13 Until we all attain the to the unity of doctrine, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

We are to execute the unique spiritual life of the church age by advancing to spiritual maturity. By doing so, our relationship with the Lord is strengthened by doctrine circulating in the right lobe of our soul. Our gratitude towards God is maximized and we personally begin to love God. God blesses us in this life, rewards us in eternity and provides opportunities to express our personal love for Him, impersonal love for all mankind, and our gratitude for all that He has provided for us when we grow spiritually. There is no room for bitterness in our lives. Bitterness is perpetual carnality. Carnality and spirituality cannot co-exist. You are either spiritual (filled with the Holy Spirit) or carnal (grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit; Eph 4:30).

If you are an unbeliever, the only issue is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ as eternal God became a man perfect in everyway born without sin. He was the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Jesus Christ lived a perfect life without one act of personal sin. He went to the cross where God the Father poured out on Him every sin past, present, and future of everyone. God the Father then judged those sins in His (Jesus Christ) own body on the cross.

When Jesus died spiritually for every sin ever committed, his work was complete and He said "Finished" salvation was complete. He accomplished all the work. All we can do to appropriate this so great salvation is to believe in Him.

Acts 16:31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him to them He gave the power to become sons of God, to those that believe on His name.

John 3:15 so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.

John 3:16 For God loved the world so much that He gave His uniquely born Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:36a He who believes in the Son has eternal life...

John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the father but, by me.

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men whereby we must be saved.

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace we have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not as a result of works so that no man can boast.

God demands perfection. The humanity of Christ was perfect. Therefore, God can only be satisfied with the work of Christ. There is nothing we can do to please God. That is why faith alone in Christ alone is the only way of salvation. When we believe in Christ, God gives us forty things. One of these is the imputation of God's perfect righteousness. We are therefore completely justified by the work of Christ on the cross. He took our place, He was our substitute He died so that we may live. Another of the forty is the imputation of God's very own life. The moment we believe in Christ God gives us eternal life. We have His life; we will live with God forever.

The choice is yours accept the gift of salvation by faith in Christ and have life or face eternal condemnation.

John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey (the command to believe in) the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

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Sapper - 1141st Engr Co.

When an army was defending a fortress with cannon, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attacker's own guns. The attacking army's artillery had to be brought forward, under fire, so as to facilitate effective counter-battery fire. This was achieved by digging what the French termed a 'Sappe'. Using techniques developed and perfected by Vauban, the sapeurs (sappers) began the trench at such an angle so as to avoid enemy fire 'enfilading' (passing directly along) the sappe. As they pressed forward, a position was prepared from which cannon could suppress the defenders on the bastions. The sappers would then change the course of their trench, zig-zagging their way toward the fortress wall. Each leg brought the attacker's artillery closer and closer until (hopefully) the besieged cannon would be sufficiently suppressed for undermining to begin. Broadly speaking, sappers were originally experts at demolishing or otherwise overcoming or bypassing fortification systems.

A sapper is an individual usually in British or Commonwealth military service. Called a combat engineer by the Americans, a pionier by the Germans and a génie by the French, a sapper may perform any of a variety of tasks under combat conditions. Such tasks typically include bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences as well as building, road and airfield construction and repair. In other words, the sapper's tasks now involve facilitating movement of allied forces and impeding movement of the enemy's.

Sapper (abbreviated Spr) is the Royal Engineers' equivalent of Private. This is also the case within the Canadian and Royal Australian Engineers, however, this use of the term is not used by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The term Sapper was introduced in 1856 when the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners was amalgamated with the officer Corps of Royal Engineers to form the Corps of Royal Engineers.

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"Let your plans be dark and as impenetratable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt."

- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value."

- Thomas Paine, The American Crisis (1776)

"Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men."

- Gen. George S. Patton Jr.

"There is no 'I' in TEAM."

- US Navy SEALs

"I don't mind being called tough, because in this racket it's the tough guys who lead the survivors."

- General Curtis LeMay, USAF

"The ordinary air fighter is an extraordinary man and the extraordinary air fighter stands as one in a million among his fellows."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Retired Ft. Bragg special operation commander Downing dies

By JAN DENNIS
Associated Press Writer

PEORIA, Ill. - Retired Gen. Wayne Downing, one of President Bush's key counterterrorism advisers after the Sept. 11 attacks and a former Fort Bragg special operations commander, died Wednesday, a coroner said. He was 67.

The four-star general was admitted to the hospital Monday, suffering from bacterial meningitis and multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll said.

The West Point graduate retired in 1996 after 34 years in the military, ending his career as head of all U.S. special operations forces. He commanded more than 47,000 soldiers, including the Army's Green Berets and Navy's SEALs.

At Fort Bragg, Downing commanded the Joint Special Operations Command as well as the Army Special Operations Command, before becoming commander of all special operations from a headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.

He was pulled from retirement after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001 and appointed by President Bush as national director and deputy national security adviser for combatting terrorism.

He had also been tapped in his retirement to lead a 40-person presidential task force that investigated a 1996 attack that killed 19 Americans at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, making recommendations on how to better protect Americans abroad.

Downing "served this country well for many years in the military and at the White House, and even after government service continued to provide important advice and counsel," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Downing commanded a joint task force of 1,200 U.S. special forces that halted Iraq's SCUD missile attacks on Israel and eased overall missile threats in the war zone.

Downing, a military analyst for MSNBC, received the U.S. Military Academy's distinguished graduate award in 2006.

"His reputation was that of a smart, decisive, forceful and caring leader, known in particular for his unwavering determination to accomplish any mission assigned and provide his soldiers the best possible support," the academy wrote in bestowing the honor.

Commando killed in Afghanistan named Michael Jones

Times Online
July 31, 2007

Royal Marine killed during a special operation against the Taleban in southern Afghanistan was named today by the Ministry of Defence as Lance Corporal Michael Jones.

Corporal Jones, 26, a commando in the Special Boat Service (SBS) was on a mission to root out insurgents in Nimruz province in the south-west of the country on Sunday. He was the fourth British serviceman to die in Afghanistan in four days last week.

Corporal Jones, from Newbald, East Yorkshire, had joined the Royal Marines at the age of 18 in 1999, and served on operations in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

His Commanding Officer, who has not been named, said: "Michael was a truly exceptional Junior Non-Commissioned Officer, the best at his level, who unflinchingly stood, time after time, shoulder to shoulder with his friends in the very worst of conditions. It will be impossible to replace Michael. He will be remembered as a genuine and loyal friend whose selfless bravery whilst assaulting a formidable Taleban position is an example to us all."

Three other SBS men were also wounded in Sunday’s battle, which was ordered against a Taleban group that was believed to be planning attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. The death was unusual in that most fatalities involving British forces have been in Helmand province, further east of Nimruz.

The Defence Secretary, Des Brown, paid his respects to the "experienced and courageous" Royal Marine. "His significant contribution towards the defence of his country will not be forgotten and his loss will be felt by all who knew him. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and comrades."

Corporal Jones was the 68th member of the British armed forces to die in Afghanistan since the UK joined the US-led invasion in November 2001 and the fourth to be killed last week. Sergeant Barry Keen, 34, from 245 Signal Squadron, 14 Signals Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals, was killed last Friday; Guardsman David Atherton, 25, from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was killed the day before; and Lance Corporal Alex Hawkins, from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died in an explosion in Sangin last Wednesday.

Also Read

By ALISON KERSHAW
The Scotsman

U.S. Special Forces Battle Mahdi Army in holy city of Karbala

By Stephen Farrell
Published: July 27, 2007

BAGHDAD: American special forces battled Mahdi army militiamen in Karbala on Friday, calling in a deadly helicopter airstrike during a rare operation in one of the country's holiest Shiite cities.

The U.S. military said the predawn raid - carried out with Iraqi troops accompanied by American forces as "advisers" - had captured a "high-level" rogue member of Moktada al-Sadr's militia and two of his aides, killing 17 militants in the process.

However, Iraqi hospital officials accused the Americans of killing 9 civilians and wounding 26 others in the Al-Askari district in western Karbala, 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, south of Baghdad. Sadrist officials said U.S. forces arrived by air and the battle lasted from 1:30 a.m. until 4 a.m. The governor of Karbala and city council members immediately denounced the strike, saying it had been carried out without advance consultation, as previously agreed during raids on the sacred town.

Fake Firm Gets Nuclear License in U.S. Govt Sting

By JoAnne Allen
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Undercover investigators, working for a fake firm, obtained a license to buy enough radioactive material to build a "dirty bomb," amid little scrutiny from federal regulators, according to a government report obtained on Wednesday.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the license to the dummy company in just 28 days with only a cursory review, the Government Accountability Office said in a report to be released on Thursday.

The GAO, which set up the sting, said the NRC approved the license after a couple of faxes and phones calls and then mailed it to the phony company's headquarters -- a drop box at a United Parcel Service location.

"From the date of application to the issuance of the license, the entire process lasted 28 days," the GAO said. "GAO investigators essentially obtained a valid materials license from the NRC without ever leaving their desks."

General David Petraeus on the conditions on the ground in Iraq

The Hugh Hewitt Show

HH: Welcome, General. You took over command of the multinational forces in February of this year, February 10. In the past five months, how have conditions in Iraq changed?

DP: Well, obviously, we have been surging our forces during that time. We have added five Army brigade combat teams, two Marine battalions, and a Marine expeditionary unit, and some enablers, as they’re called. And over the last month, that surge of forces has turned into a surge of offensive operations. And we have achieved what we believe is a reasonable degree of tactical momentum on the ground, gains against the principal near-term threat, al Qaeda-Iraq, and also gains against what is another near-term threat, and also potentially the long term threat, Shia militia extremists as well. As you may have heard, that today, we announced the capture of the senior Iraqi leader of al Qaeda-Iraq, and that follows in recent weeks the detention of some four different emirs, as they’re called, the different area leaders of al Qaeda, six different foreign fighter facilitators, and a couple dozen other leaders, in addition to killing or capturing hundreds of other al Qaeda-Iraq operatives.

Navy SEAL takes charge at U.S. Special Operations Command

NBC

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A Navy admiral who won a Silver Star for his role in a famous 1993 battle to rescue downed Black Hawk helicopter crews in Somalia took charge Monday as the new commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

Adm. Eric T. Olson, 55, is the first U.S. Navy officer - and the first Navy SEAL - to run the command, which oversees the military's elite forces combatting terrorism in more than 50 countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan. He accepted the command's colors from Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a ceremony in the Tampa Convention Center.

Pace Speaks About Jointness, Moral Courage

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

NORFOLK, Va., June 15, 2007 - U.S. armed services frequently work together in joint operations, and military officers also need to represent their own services in joint environments, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday at the Joint Forces Staff College here.

Pace delivered the Henry Clay Hofheimer Lecture to students, faculty and guests of the college. Most of the students are young officers who will move on to joint service assignments around the world.

"This is a joint school, a joint and combined environment and I like that a lot," Marine Gen. Peter Pace said. "But I ask you to not forget what uniform you wear."

The military has successfully embraced jointness, he said, and the campaign into Iraq in March and April 2003 proved the worth of the joint approach. But officers may be too quick to embrace the concept.

Pace said he knows a lot about the Marine Corps, having grown up in the culture from second lieutenant fresh out of the Naval Academy. "What I need around me are officers who will tell me what it is about the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard that I do not know, and if I did know, I could make a better decision," he said.

Life... explained.

Author Unknown

On the first day, God created the dog and said: "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said: "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I 'll give you a twenty-year life span."

The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"

And God agreed.

Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates

Author Unknown

Understanding the theories of the Founding Fathers is one attempt to reveal their intentions on the war-making power of the President. Another possibly even more revealing method is to examine the actions of the Framers, or at least the actions of their contemporaries. Jefferson used his powers as commander-in-chief to deploy forces in a precarious position and eventually into war without first consulting Congress. This episode, of course, occurred with the Barbary Pirates, a situation which we will examine more closely now.

The Barbary Pirates were from the northern part of Africa in the Mediterranean. For centuries, they had controlled the shipping trade in the Mediterranean. Their interest was not as much in the cargo of the ships as it was in the crews that manned the ships. The pirates would capture and then enslave the crews of the vessels that sailed in the Mediterranean, forcing the men to labor in workhouses as well as subject them to starvation. The only way to escape this fate was for a country to pay tribute to each of the Barbary states, and this was not always a guarantee. Paying tribute, however, was a common practice for all the European nations. In fact, when the United States were still colonies, the English had paid dues to protect their ships, as well as those of the American colonies. Now that the colonies had won their independence, England and the other powers of Europe had no interest in protecting the trade of the new nation. The attitude of Europe was that as long as the pirates had the smaller countries of the world to raid, there was no need for the pirates to impede the travels and trade of the larger countries in Europe. This, however, did not save them from paying tribute, which they continued to pay year after year. It did, however, reduce the inconvenience of further attacks. In fact, some countries paid tributes in the millions every year.

Camouflage and Shadows

...The sniper team in the open stands out clearly, but the sniper team in the shadows is difficult to see. Shadows exist under most conditions, day and night. A sniper team should never fire from the edge of a wood line; it should fire from a position inside the wood line (in the shade or shadows provided by the tree tops).

Ten of My Rules for Air Fighting

• Wait until you see the whites of his eyes.
• Fire short bursts of 1 to 2 seconds and only when your sights are definitely 'ON'
• Whilst shooting think of nothing else; brace the whole of the body; have both hands on the stick; concentrate on your ring sight.
• Always keep a sharp lookout. "Keep your finger out"!
• Height gives you the initiative.
• Always turn and face the attack.
• Make your decisions promptly. It is better to act quickly even though your tactics are not the best.
• Never fly straight and level for more than 30 seconds in the combat area.
• When diving to attack always leave a proportion of your formation above to act as top guard.
• INITIATIVE, AGGRESSION, AIR DISCIPLINE, and TEAM WORK are words that MEAN something in Air Fighting.
• Go in quickly - Punch Hard - Get out!

  - Flight Lieutenant Adolphus G. 'Sailor' Malan, RSAAF, August 1941.