More on The Dog...An American in trouble....

I have written before about the ongoing legal problems Dog the Bounty Hunter is experiencing with Mexico.

The Dog's legal problems began when he and his team went into Mexico and took a scumbag rapist off of the streets, bringing him back to the United States to face his accusers and eventually being found guilty and spending the rest of his natural and un-natural life behind bars.

It did not help the siltation that his specific dirt bag, rapists scum was Andrew Luster, heir to the Max Factor Cosmetics fortune and well connected in Mexico who was presently harboring him so as not to be deported.

What set the Dog up for his present legal problems was bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico and it sure did not help that the dirt bag had connections. Of course, after all the world wide publicity Mexico had no choice but to send him packing with U.S. Marshals to America. We do have to love the fact of a scum rapist getting 124 years behind bars.

What I did not mention was that this dirt bag, rapist was the atypical type, he drugged his women, raped them, video taped them for later enjoyment. Nice guy, huh?

The Dog and company posted bond and was advised by a Mexican lawyer to go home and never return to Mexico as the statute of limitations would run out and all would be forgotten. Well, Mexico was not going to forget loosing their money ticket and they had U.S. Marshals arrest the Dog and company for the crimes they committed.

Now his legal problems are facing him daily and the knowledge that he would die quickly in a Mexican jail does not sit too well with the Dog or his family.

Should anyone wish to help the Dog he has many options on his site, stop by, take a look and see what is up.

Personally I feel this man spent his own money, time and energy to take this scum off the streets, he does not deserve what happened to him and the country needs to stand behind him.

The Dog is a family man, a born again Christian and his strong faith and family is the primary force in his life that is keeping him going through these trying times. He is an interesting character and does not deserve what is going on in his life.

Side note: Granted, bounty hunters receive a percentage of the bond when they bring a dirt bag to justice, but in this specific case a judge ruled the Dog was not eligible for the reward. The family spent tens of thousands of their own money to bring Luster to justice and did not receive a dime.

There is a lot of national publicity on the Dog’s problems, MSNBC, The Opera Show and many more are offering assistance and media attention. There are many sites as well, one that you can join in the conversation is, Free Dog Chapman, they have message boards and many more ways in which to discuss or assist the Dog.

This information is taken directly from the Free Dog Chapman site, I have sent them an email stating I have copied it for use, but due to the cause I am sure they will not disagree.

From Free Dog Chapman:

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Write to the US Department of State

News reports have mentioned that it could ultimately be Condoleezza Rice who decides the fate of Dog, Tim, and Leland. Send her a polite letter asking her to reject Mexico's extradition request.

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

http://www.state.gov/

Write to the Department of Justice

Remind them that Dog is an American citizen and they should be working for him, not a foreign government. Politely demand that they cease all efforts to send Dog to Mexico.

Here is the address in Hawaii

United States Attorney
Edward H. Kubo, Jr.
PJKK Federal Building
300 Ala Moana Blvd., #6-100
Honolulu, HI 96850

Phone: (808) 541-2850
TTY: (808) 541-1850
Fax: (808) 541-2958

While you are at it, write to Alberto Gonzales in Wasthington DC.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

I wouldn't bother calling or emailing anyone in Washington because you'll never actually get to anyone important so a letter is probably best.

Write to President Bush.

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

As nicely as you can, urge him to use his influence to get President Fox to drop the charges against all three men. After all, they were bringing back a rapist and that ought to count for something.

Write to your elected representatives.

To find out who they are, visit Congress.org. Put your zip code in the box on the left and go from there. Have each member of your family send a separate letter, fill up their mailboxes. Make your voice heard!

celebrity watchers, huh?

We tend to be a country of celebrity watchers, yep, the voyeurs of the land, that's us. Me, I could care less, I really don't care about Anna Nichole Smith, I hate Michael Jackson and very happy he is experiencing financial problems.

I mean, come on, the guy is spending 30 million bucks a year and has a zero income from preforming because no one wants to see a child molester sing in public. That is no one except in Southeast Asia where for some unknown reason Mr. Strange-man-with pasted-on-nose is now residing. I'll bet he has a few young children visiting his new home. I wonder if he installed another theme park to attract them.

Anna Nichole Smith, Ms. Boobs-a-lot herself, If the woman stood too close to a heating duct she would melt like the wicked witch of the west. I feel badly she lost her son, but when she sold the last pictures taken in the hospital for a half million bucks she stepped down about twenty stories in my books.

Movies I enjoy, I love watching them and look forward for new ones to be released, however the new crop leaves a lot to be desired. First, one talking animal movie a month is just too much. I mean, come on, when the children stop going to see them because they all look alike maybe it is time to make something different.

This is the time of the year we are inundated with just about every bad movie they can find because, well they just do it that way and always have.

Britney and company, that is another one that I am sick of hearing, reading, watching and listening to people talk about. I don't care if her boobs are real, I don't care about her phony marriage and I don't care about how many times she is pregnant. If she wants to spend her time in maternity clothes that is her problem, not the rest of the worlds. It is nice to see she has found something she is good at other then singing and growing boobs.

Paris Hilton, someone please give that chick a few million bucks to just go away. Maybe her latest adventure in reality, a DUI will do just that, but I am sure someway, somehow she will make money off of it.

The only things I do care about is that they do not cancel, The Unit, Mail Call, R. Lee Ermey rocks! Eureka, an absolutely great new show and a few others. Give me my History channel, Discovery, Sci-fi and the Military channel and I am a happy camper. Other than that I am a total news junkie.

I am sure some will ask why I know about these people when I could care less, well, they spoon feed this trash down my throat every time the television is on. Other than that I certainly do not go out of my way to learn about them.

Now, what did I do with that remote?

We need to change things....

The latest incident of a sexual nature with underage children, Rep. Mark Foley, of Florida exchanging raunchy e-mails with a teenage boy, a former congressional page leads me to question our present society.

Either we are experiencing a massive peak in pedophiles or we are paying more attention to what the average citizen is up too in the privacy of their own lives. It certainly appears that we are seeing more sexual attacks upon children than at any other time in our history.

As a police officer for most of my life, I experienced my share of juvenile investigations. I had a real problem with people entering sex with children and there were times I was under orders not to be near the arrest for fear I would attack the individual. Of course, this would have never occurred and the department was only trying to protect the suspect as well as my own career, but that was how severely it affected me at times.

It reached a highpoint when I was involved in a high profile investigation and it sickened me so badly I asked to be removed from the case as well as juvenile investigations altogether, returning to driving a patrol car brought some sanity back into my life. I much more preferred fighting crime then experiencing the dredge of humanity and I enjoyed the rest of my time.

Perhaps the answer is to create harder punishment for these disgusting aspects of society, even going as far as some countries and instituting the death penalty for sexual crimes against children. I for one am all for it and would vote on a law in a heartbeat.

We need stiffer punishment for child sex crimes instead of our “feel-good” let us train them, medicate them and send them into society as long as we create a sex crime database. Stupidity is thy name for this type of punishment, it does not work and now we see perverts filing litigation against cities attempting to ban them from moving in and winning!

I have often said that we try to resolve everything with a holding hands and skipping through the countryside doing good deeds for people and this will not work and will never work. Just ask John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted if he feels we have effective punishment for child sex offenders and be prepared for his answer and remember he once had a son named Adam.

Some things never change....

U.S. troops detained a bodyguard for the leader of Iraq's biggest Sunni Arab political group on suspicion he was preparing massive suicide bombings inside the fortified Green Zone, prompting fearful Iraqi officials on Saturday enforced a total ban on movement in Baghdad.

Of course this did little to put a stop to the expected violence as an interpreter for the U.S. military was killed and a car bomb exploded killing one and injuring five others

In Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, police opened fire on a suspected car bomber. The vehicle detonated, killing two and wounding 30 others, police Lt. Nejim Abdullah said.

It is very evident that in the areas controlled by our newly trained Iraqi forces and police that they are not doing enough to control the violence even I a time when a curfew is in effect and no one should be in the streets. They need to get out more patrolling their areas of operation.

Speaking on Al-Arabiya TV on Saturday morning, Interior Ministry official Hussein Ali Kemal said the move was to "prevent the security situation from deteriorating." He added, however, that the information was that there was a threat that an attack "might occur against places of worship and shopping centers during Ramadan."

In other events Baghdad police on Saturday found six corpses in the eastern section of the capital, more apparent victims of the sectarian death squads that roam the city.

This all points to a very important point I wish to make, the Iraqi forces need to create a higher patrol presence and not worry of the reprisals, if they are forceful enough to make a difference the reprisals will not continue.

Our military cannot be everywhere at every time and this is the basic concept of self governing and self protecting as well as the basis for our recruiting and training their military and police. But, we cannot be with them 100% of the time, they need to take the bull by the horns and protect themselves too.

I know every veteran of the red mud will attest to the fact that teaching a country’s military to protect themselves is not as easy as it sounds. There will be troops that will give their lives if needed and fight as our own military and there will be others who will sit in the background waiting for us to take charge of the situation, this will never change.

Let us all hope they soon begin to have the desire to win and not sit back enjoying a coffee while our own troops are doing the fighting.

The truth, oh my, what is that

I hate election rhetoric, I physically cannot stand this time of the year. There was a time that I enjoyed the exchanges between the candidates and the parties, but that soon progressed into negative advertising then on to our present day “call them anything you want as long as you say you endorse the message” bovine excrement slinging.

Jennifer Loven, a reporter with The Washington Post wrote, “With just over five weeks to go before midterm elections in which GOP control of Congress could be at risk, Democrats have been citing a government intelligence assessment to bolster their criticism of Bush's approach to Iraq. The classified National Intelligence Estimate, parts of which Bush declassified earlier this week, says the Iraq war has contributed to a global growth in the terrorist movement, but it also says success there could drain jihadists of momentum.”

Does anyone notice that last comment after the “but”? The Democrats sure have not read that part, nor any other part of a positive nature, only the negative statements they can best use for the bovine excrement slinging that is so popular these days.

Never mind the fact that al-Qaeda, (I linked to that because there are so many spellings of this that it drives me nuts, so I will stick with this one) just released a statement that approximately 4,000 insurgents have been killed as a result of the war in Iraq, or that our military is in control with our warrior patrolling the streets where the terrorists once walked freely and called home.

Never mind the fact that Iraq had the first democratic, free election in their history and the people voted in a government who has since ratified a constitution, after all, this matters not, what only matters is the media says we are doing bad, so dammit we are doing bad. The media has spoken, all bow down and prostrate yourself to the media God.

Yes, there are insurgents and if the democrats would bother to attend security briefings they would understand the situation. These are the remnants of Saddam’s guard and others from Syria and elsewhere who have joined them in an attempt to rid Iraq of the infidels. They do not grasps this because the media says it is a civil war, not insurgents and once again, the media God has spoken and the media God controls the American people who in turn control the votes.

Can I get an amen to that brothers and sisters.

Photo from The Washington Post.

Let's give it a try....

Morning all,

The comment moderation is turned off as well as those stupid words to type in, which by the way applied to me as well and there were times I could not type them right.

I never liked this feature and hated to turn it on when the attacks began, but they were really bad and it was brought to my attention by the powers at a blogger. I even had a DOS attack trying to take the blog down. This was a long times ago and after I posted a pro-war anti-Muslim message, suffice to say it began a hailstorm of stupidity.

I was able to track one of the people through email and he was turned I and I have never heard from him again, so I guess the system does work.

Let’s give it a try and see if it is a better exchange of comments and information
Ranter

One last thought....

I wanted to make one last comment tonight to our friend Kilroy 60, something I had in mind early today and neglected to post.

There is nothing wrong in your feelings and questions on the war in Iraq. You have made it perfectly clear that you respect the American military and my friend, that is what counts. It is your right not to support any war as long as you respect and support the military committed to that war.

Contrary to many of the anti-war protestors the military does not have any opinion or decision on whom they attack. They do not sit in the barracks at night discussing what country or head of state they are going to go after. The order is given and they as military follow orders preforming that job to the best of the ability.

As many of my brothers and sisters I have been on the receiving end with names as “baby killer” and many more. I have had eggs and tomatoes thown at me and for what reason? The fact that I was wearing a uniform and that was all. Why they felt that I had any choice to anything that I did in the Army was totally beyond my comprehension.

Question all you wish and do not support anything you are not committed to, that is your right and any veteran will support you, but by all means and for every person standing on the line, support the men and women. And my friend, you have said that you do, end of the story.

Need a bit of input on something.

Howdy folks,

Okay, totally off our normal ranting, arguing and raving I have a question to pose to all.

When commenting, linking back or whatever does anyone feel entering in all those blasted letters, etc. the blog displays for user input create problems for you? Originally I instituted this option due to an attack on the site within the comment section. That was when I began moderating the comments prior to them being published online. It was also the time some idiot statedted spamming thousands of users with the old email address.

Here I am a security consultant and left the blog wide open to attack, thus the implementation of those characters that tend to drive some people to drinking large amounts of alcohol. Oh, wait, that was just my last get together, I needed an excuse and that served pretty well. (Smile)

Now that the blog is in the beta area of blogger, (gee, that was such a great decision on my part) and we do experience a few problems from time to time perhaps I should turn that security feature off and see if the blog can live with that decesion.

Any input would be appreciated.

Ranter

The Highway of Death

Howdy Kilroy 60, Well, here we are and nothing is yet answered to you as I said, this has to be your decision, not what other people think. Your stand on the military is commendable and I applaud you for it. It is not often someone has unanswered questions and still maintain respect as you. Perhaps I can shed a tad amount of light on the Highway of Death issue.

You have stated the standard media line of the Highway of death containing relatively few bodies. Still today this one event has a tremendous amount of controversy surrounding it.

Whatever the case the amount of Iraqi bodies had nothing to do with the executive decision to call an immediate halt in hostilities. The actual scene of the devastation, vehicles, tanks and varied forms of burning and destroyed transportation strewn about the landscape was simply enough for that call. They were acutely aware that one scene would have devastated various factions in America as well as the rest of the world.

For example, this comment taken from WikipediA discusses various distinct points of views from supposedly on scene eye witness accounts.

“The offensive action for which the road is infamous became a controversial point, with some commentators alleging that the use of force was disproportionate, that the Iraqi forces were retreating, and that the column included prisoners and civilian refugees. Although no reporters were present during the action, and media accounts did not appear for almost a month, photographs taken afterwards showed dramatic scenes of burned and broken vehicles. The bombings were cited by some observers as a war crime — the deliberate bombing of a stretch of highway where fleeing and "out of combat" Iraqi soldiers were stuck in a frenzied traffic jam.

The United States, however, stated that few Iraqi soldiers were found in the wreckage. According to a PBS Frontline interview with Rick Atkinson, when asked whether we know how many Iraqis were killed on the Highway of Death, he answered: "I don't think we'll ever know how many Iraqis were killed there. There were about 1,500 vehicles on the highway of death, counted, destroyed vehicles after the war. And another 400 or so on another road, a spur that ran parallel to the coast. Those who wandered through this wreckage right after the Iraqi surrender found relatively few bodies. Certainly some, and many that were terribly incinerated of those that were found. But the prevailing view is that many of the Iraqis had simply gotten out of their vehicles and ran. And it's difficult to believe that deaths on the highway of death probably exceeded more than a couple of hundred perhaps."

The Independent's Robert Fisk got there in the aftermath of the allied bombing. In his book "The Great War for Civilisation", Fisk describes the scene of kilometres of damaged military and civilian vehicles that was bombed as they were stuck in the traffic jam. He describes the burnt out remains of the occupants of the many vehicles. "I had seen hundreds of dead here; there must have been thousands.”

I can attest to the fact that from a media standpoint the body count is not always the deciding factor to the American people. Any combat veteran will tell you that often the scene immediately following contact is beyond comprehension and sometimes enough for the troops to feel they just destroyed a large amount of enemy, when in truth the scene does not tell the true story. Someone may fire at us and we in turn will light up the landscape returning fire with devastating firepower.

Display that same scene to our arm chair quarterbacks sitting in their livingroom watching the war on CNN and all they can see is death and destruction. It matters not that the only thing destroyed in the equipment, it is in the eyes of the beholder and that was what Powell and company based the decision on, not the body count.

Take a look at the photo of the scene, from someone sitting in their livingroom they would see this and our A10's still lighting them up and feel we are totally on overkill. No matter how many dead, we are bad due to the scene.

Welcome Home Band of Brothers

Welcome home 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Task Force Band of Brothers!

This should have been published September 15^th, but I simply did not have the opportunity at that time and want to make up for it now.

The 101^st Airborne Division has added more to its growing resume of distinction, heroism and bravery, which has made this historic unit what it is today. The men and women serving are proud warriors and continue the unit’s legacy for generations to come.

I have had the honor of corresponding with a few as well as their families during their deployment and my prayers were answered when each returned safe and sound.

A big HooAh to these warriors and BLUE SKYS my brothers and sisters. Welcome Home.

And the same and much more to "E", Blue Skys and enjoy the car.

Ranter

The Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

As a child growing up in the 1950’s this was the start of every school day and no longer a part of our children’s curriculum. Of course, we also had Air Raid Drills where we would all march in single line to a basement, go to a specific corner of the building, knell and place our head low and our hands over it protectively. Oh yes, this would have saved our little bodies from the big one had Russia ever followed though,

A Marine has posted what this phrase means to him on his site and it is very moving, I highly recommend everyone read it.

Semper Fi from an old HooAh!
Ranter

Happy Birthday Wild Bill

I wanted to take this opportunity to extend a big Happy Birthday to Wild Bill!

You have a good one, pop a top for the Ranter and kick back. Your insight and feedback is a welcome commodity around here and the world is a better place. Many more my brother.

This may be a belated birthday wish, but the feelings are still there. Happy one my friend.

Ranter

A bit of talk and words to Kilroy 60.....

I have been giving a lot of thought to Kilroy 60 and darned if it did not give me a headache! As far as what McNamara did or did not do during Viet Nam, well my new friend, that is all available in hardcover and on the History and Military channel, all one has to do is read or watch to their hearts content.

Yep, you nailed it, the Viet Nam war was a bunch of crap and the only people that made a difference were the men and women that were in the red mud. Why is that you may ask, well we never lost a battle or a patch of land, that is why. The Viet Nam war proved one and only one thing to me, the 7^th Cavalry, Special Forces, LRRP’s , The United States Marines, SEAL Teams and River Rats, were the bravest bunch of self sacrificing individuals I have ever had the privilege of knowing. It is an honor to have known a few and been involved with others.

As far as the rest of the questions, Wild Bill says it all in a nutshell. And the questions asked are too involved to ever be answered within the contents of a comment, that is impossible.

As far as the original Gulf War, if you can look into McNamara then you have to time to look into Powell, for he was the reason the first one stopped and in my opinion the reason for the second. Powell knew he screwed the pooch, he had demanded a cease in the hostilities when we were destroying every living thing on their road to Baghdad and the images hit the news services. Powell had a panic attack and called for Bush Sr. to end it immediately.

Since that moment in time Bush Sr. has taken the heat for not going on and the answers of the coalition falling apart if he had is now the common stock answer. Powell had the plans in place when GW asked and the rest is history.

The WMD, all you have to do is read, take a good look at Wild Bill’s comments and do a bit of research that will answer those questions. One thing you must bear in mind and one thing only, do not base anything; not one single feeling on any statement from the American media for you will only see misinformation, fabrication, outright lies and so forth. They thrive on it and always will. If you want the truth, go to the source, the men and women serving. They have blogs and they love to get email. They are unable to discuss their feelings or actions in the blog, but you will read the truths.

When an IED goes off in Iraq the people in the know are the men and women there, not the media. They will arrive on scene while there is still a bit of destruction, stick the camera up, film and run for cover. Do not think for a moment they were there.

In closing, if you want to go directly to the source and speak to an honest to God warrior incapable of blinking an eye at danger then visit Michael Yon online. Read his material, drop him a note and while you are there make a donation to the cause as he underwrites everything himself.

Wild Bill Replies...

Wild Bill has replied to Kilroy 60 and in his true fashion answer the questions. I personally do not feel anyone’s questions can all be answered if they feel we are not succeeding in Iraq. The truth is the exact opposite to what the media wants everyone to believe.

Click Here to visit Redneck Central if you want to read more of Wild Bill. While you are there tell him Happy Birthday!

Here are Wild Bill’s comments on the subject.

Kilroy, have you even noticed that there is anybody elses name connected between the 2 inncursions into Iraq besides BUSH ??

Let me give you a hint.. COLIN POWELL !! It was on his recommendation that GW I was halted.. After he saw how bad of a mistake it was, I thank he wanted to come back under G.W.'s Admistration and try to right that wrong.. And I thank you can just turn that light bulb back off too !!

We have had SUCCESS since we set foot back into Iraq.. You must have missed my earlier post about Salmon Pak, and then there were the sarin labs in the North too, and oh yeah, the centrifuges that the scientists had buried in their back yards.. But the greatest achievement, in my mind, has been the blockage of the Caliphate..

And as far as diplomacy, that is a function of the Iraqi Government, since the problems there are more-or-less BETWEEN THE IRAQIS THEMSELVES !! And THAT is also the reason that Iraq takes 7X's the manpower than the Stan does..

And the problem with us gettin laughed at is over MONEY !! While we send MILLIONS and BILLIONS of U.S. Greenbacks to every snivelin little prick that can hold his hand out, our Military can’t even afford Stick Horses for our Troops, let alone body armor, weapons and transportation !! BTW, did you enjoy the $ 115 Million (U.S. Taxpayer) Dollar rebuildin of the SuperDome down at "Babylon On The Mississippi" ??

We've also sent $30M to Hamas, and spent $50M on medical supplies and aid to MENDANAO !! Anybody have an idea what its gonna cost us to rebuild the military in Lebanon ?? And last I heard, we were still sendin about $50M A-FUGGIN-YEAR to Syria !!

Yeah, they're laughin alright.. All the way to the gotdam bank.. Meanwhile, the Pentagon cut orders of F-35 Fighter and C-17 Cargo planes, and the Coast Guard is almost down to gotdam ROWBOATS !!

How come Congress dont mind gettin their pics taken when and are all smiles when we give money to some ferrin country, but start grabbin for the Nitro Tablets whenever we want to spend money on OUR Military ??

Wild Bill

When mistakes happen, boy do they.

I am going to do something totally out of character, offer my sincere apologies to someone. Kilroy 60. Due to this beta junk going on he had commented on a post which was then sent to me as I moderate all commenting due to a real problem this site encountered six months ago.

The mail I received was truncated, out of sequence and difficult to understand. I knew it was unlike his normal writing, but saw he called my post a piece of s---- and assumed he was ticked. I published it and of course was not too nice in my two comments to him. I made an apology in the comment section and wanted to address it here too so he would know my sincerity. I have also sent off the material to the blog powers to be so they are aware of what happened and can hopefully correct it.

I welcome open debates I do not expect people to always agree with me and I will not stop anyone from saying so. Now that is taken care of I do hope Kilroy 60 understands.

Ranter

Things change and stay the same...

Military.com is reporting that many of the Iraqi forces presently in Baghdad are creating more problems than they are worth with reports of unguarded perimeters, concertina wire removed or nonexistent, the home of wealthier Iraqi’s being burglarized with the prime suspects being the Iraqi troops. One Sgt. Was overheard telling an officer that they need to fire them all and start fresh; the officer replied that was impossible, not allowed.

This brings back so many memories of my war and the same problems we encountered. The news at home was spoon-feeding everyone how the hearts and minds campaign was working and we were training the civilians to protect themselves, when the truth was we would have shot them if we had the chance and when they would attack as the enemy we often did. Times change, but stay the same.

I am reminded of the story a good friend of mine told me after the war and over many beers. He told me he was on a remote firebase and they knew they had enemy within their strike force, but not proven until an attack and half the strike force turned against them. They were far too busy to deal with this problem and fortunately for them they did not have to as the remaining members of the team were loyal and quickly defused the situation solving them problem.

We quickly learned that training their military did not insure they would defend or for that matter even be loyal and that still applies today. It is difficult to create a selection process for a new military when the commanding officers under orders to get one in place as soon as possible. The written test portion quickly goes out the window when a large percentage of the men and women are unable to read or write.

Allegiance is another matter altogether, should it become evident the troops are working with the insurgents they should be dealt with as quickly as possible and with extreme prejudice if needed. This is war, not an outing at the park and we need to instill that thinking within our politicians when they are sending orders down the line to the field.

Another shooting.

I have yet to comprehend man’s inhumanity to man as is clearly demonstrated in the latest student shooting in Colorado where a male took female students hostage and killing one.

At Colorado high school not far from Columbine, the first reports came in around noon, reports CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers: A middle-aged man armed with a handgun had stormed the high school and taken six female students hostage in a classroom. This ended when the SWAT team entered and the male shot one of the hostages then himself.

CBS News correspondent Lee Frank reported that some of the female hostages were sexually assaulted in the hostage taking.

What is going on in the minds of these people and why or how are they allowed to slip through the cracks of society is a question left unanswered.

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, in the immortal words of Dylan, but it sure is not available to any of us. How sick individuals as this are allowed to stay in society functioning day to day as normal people then snap will never be answered. The fact that he is now dead by his own hand does not help the situation. He should have met his face at the end of a SWAT bullet saving the taxpayers a substantial amount of money. Taking his own life did not relieve the sadness to the family or the emotional trauma to the remaining females.

The answers are not in gun control, which is evident in Ney York, England and Australia, total gun control and high crime rates with weapons. Gun control only works with the law abiding, the fringe element just keeps on ticking and shooting.

The answer may be in better securing our schools, locking them down once the session begins whatever the answer it will not save this young girl as it is too late.

My heart and prayers go out to the families at this time of their lives and to the remaining girls who will live with this the rest of their lives.

The Report - Oh My Run and Hide!

The majority of the media sites are having a field day with the leaked intelligence report I previously wrote my feelings about. Phrases such as, Bush is cooked and this opening paragraph of an Australian media site, The Australian, “THE Iraq war is a "cause celebre" for Islamic extremists, helping underwrite terrorism and fuelling anti-American sentiment for years to come, according to a declassified US intelligence report that is at odds with the Bush administration's portrayal of the conflict.”

In other words, the media are defiantly in their element, all is wrong in the world and they have dirt on the Bush administration, consequently just about every reporter mantra is, “We hate Bush and let's let him have it with all we got!”

For the point of this conversation, let us touch base on a few of the pertinent items being screamed in large point type from every headline. The following is taken directly from chron.com, simply because I refused to quote from any major American news service.

The increased role of Iraqis in managing the operations of al-Qaeda in Iraq might lead the terror group's veteran foreign fighters to refocus their efforts outside that country.

• While Iran and Syria are the most active state sponsors of terror, many other countries will be unable to prevent their resources from being exploited by terrorists.

• The underlying factors fueling the spread of the extremist Muslim movement outweigh its vulnerabilities. These factors are entrenched grievances and a slow pace of reform in home countries, rising anti-U.S. sentiment and the Iraq war.
  
  
• Let us be honest boys and girls, it mattered not what infinitesimal spot of soil one of our American boots stepped onto, if it were of Muslim ownership a jihad would have been declared against us filthy infidels.

As far as rising anti-U.S. sentiment and the Iraq war, again this was going to transpire all by itself, with or without Iraq.

We need to remember something that is being overlooked, swept under rugs or simply avoided being discussed in the media so they can keep the fire fueled, Muslims attacked the United States of America, and this is not a racist or bigoted statement but a validation of truth. Whatever means of response America would have decided upon would have brought about the exact intelligence assessments.

It is very interesting that the report managed to be leaked at the same time as the elections coming close, gee, who would have even guessed the reasoning behind that one. In any case, I am sure that are many things, strike that, many – many things, which could have been and should be done that are not only different, but also more effective in the war in Iraq, but the fact remains, we were attacked and we responded.

My only problem with this is I feel we did not do more, we should have and now we are playing catch up.

We must begin protecting our secrets

The latest attack against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq is a result of a leaked intelligence report the President ended up declassifying. This report is available for reading at the Office of National Intelligence as it is now declassified and available to the public.

The media once again conducted an un-American activity in releasing classified information, instead of prosecution under various acts as it should have been, it once again is off the hook once the papers were declassified. Any unauthorized release of classified information, pro or con is what I have a severe problem with and cannot understand why someone constantly gets away with these un-American acts. It matters none to me if something comes out and states that we found WMD and did not release it, if it is classified and leaked; someone needs to go to jail.

When Daniel Ellsberg leaked what has become known as the Pentagon Papers he was successfully prosecuted under various laws relating to the offense. This is what should be done to anyone in the media, Times, etc., in the present situation and the fact they continuously are getting ways with it is an insult to those men and women presently serving in harm’s way.

I totally believe in the fact that the public needs to be informed, but not through someone illegally obtaining a classified document and publishing it with the knowledge they are protected under Amendment rights, it is apparent the Bush administration would rather play spin-doctor then to protect the secrets of our country when facing the media. Yes, I am infuriated over this and it is time someone in the beltway spoke out and began calling for this practice to come to a screeching halt.

As I stated, it matters not to me if one of these papers were the Holy Grail of the invasion plans and put an end to all further speculation, if it is illegally obtained and released then that person need to be in a federal lockdown, pure and simple. Like many of my brothers and sisters I had a high security clearance, my job dictated that. If I had leaked so much as someone’s birthday, I would still be sitting in Leavenworth. Why is this law not applicable to today’s insanity?

As far as the papers themselves, I am saving that for my next post. I wanted to comment on the act itself now, the illegal, un-American act the media once again successfully gets away with, that is my peeve and it is a rant that will go nowhere because politicians would rather work the spin angles then to protect secrets.

Whay are we there

I was recently asked to comment to the question of why we invaded Iraq, why we are still there and why are our military being killed. I have sent the reply and felt my comments strong enough to warrant publishing it on the site.

Ranter

Why are our men and women losing their lives over Iraq? That is a question of vast ethical and moral subject matter and perhaps even harder to comment to in any venue. If one was to Google the phrase, “Why did we invade Iraq” you will see 5, 160,000 hits to surf ones heart content. We must ask ourselves if that question cab possibly be answered through any of the sites. I sincerely doubt it and doubt it ever will from the ethical or moral view.

I do not feel anyone can effectively answer a question of that magnitude, Personally, l have yet to satisfy all of mine, yet here we are presently engaged in a war in which once again there appears to be no end in sight.

The technical and military view of the military basis of the invasion are openly available and understandable, once we have tossed aside the misinformation, untruths and preconceived notions, however, that too leaves a tremendous amount of questions.

As a veteran of one war, never declared but hard fought, I will attempt to offer any insight that I can.

Many individuals have felt that G.W. was simply attempting to resolve something left undone by his father and of course, this was media fueled until the ad nauseam. To understand the action still leaves many questions remaining.

There are those who constantly remind us the initial attack was in response to inaccurate human intelligence of WMD that some members of the intelligence circles had already dismissed. CIA Director George J. Tenet presented it to the President as factual and when asked if the intelligence was accurate it was reported he stated, “Mr. President, it is a slam dunk.”

Clearly, the events leading to the war are still open to interpatation, but the one fact remains. The people of Iraq were being tortured and murdered by the thousands; the Kurdish people had faced massive chemical weapons attack, mustard gas, leading to the deaths of unheard proportions. This event is now being addressed in the trial of Saddam. The sons of Saddam were also involved with deaths through their own sadistic treatment of human beings, Iraqi citizens.

Let us toss aside the entire question of the WMD that is the constant political buzz word for the upcoming elections, it certainly no longer matters, we are there, boots on the ground and now we must question why we did not depart.

The people of Iraq certainly more than deserved salvation from the terror of Saddam’s rule, as fellow human beings they certainly did not deserve the sadistic terror they were living under every waking and sleeping moment of their lives.

For no other reason except America and England were powerful enough to save thousands from death and additional thousands from torture and the knowledge we were the salvation of the people.

For no other reason than as human beings, we were morally obligated to attempt to save these people from the world of Saddam. For no other reason than that of providing safety for them would have been a basis to invade.

Herein lays the dilemma, yet answers the question of why we remain. We cannot withdraw forces now that they are committed. This would leave the country in a total state of chaos, confusion and the two warring sects, Shi’a and Sunni Arabs will destroy the entire country leaving the question of the events preceding the invasion never satisfied to anyone’s total satisfaction. In retrospect now that we are committed, the question of why actually no longer matters.

Yes, the Shi’a and Sunni are fighting one another and people are still being killed. Yes, we are losing military men and women, precious lives in a battle of faith that is not ours, but the situation would worsen should we depart. We are at least attempting to build their military and give them the capability to govern and protect.

Is the death of one military man or women worth what we are attempting to do for our fellow human beings? That is still the question at large and one that can never be answered if it is still within our hearts when the answers are in front of us.

Looking for a hero

America needs more heroes, we need them for our children, they need to have better people to look up to then rap stars hollering about violence and killing people.

All they have to do is look to Staff Sgt. Jonathon Zapien, a special forces Soldier assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C.

I will paraphrase and quote from the informative military site, www.military.com and I highly suggest stopping by and reading the article in its entirety to learn the values and professionalism we have within our military.

The site, Military.com reports, “Staff Sgt. Zapien, 25, from Houston, Texas, was deployed with the German Special Forces Command to Afghanistan from June to October 2005. While there, he acted as the sole liaison between the German unit and other coalition forces in the region.

He provided communications support, directed air support, went on regular patrols with the unit and on one occasion played an essential part in saving the life of a German soldier who was injured during an improvised explosive device attack, by calling in air and ground medical support.”

“German Minister of Defense Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan presented the Ehrenmedaille (honor medal) to Zapien on behalf of the German Special Forces Command. This is the first time German Special Forces has presented an award to a foreign soldier.”

The special operations community tends to breed quite a lot of heroes, it tends to go with the territory of learning not to blink when faced with extreme situations. They are trained to react, think out of the box, complete a task in whichever means necessary to insure the success.

America should be proud of Staff Sgt. Zapien and a big Ranter salute goes his way with all the heartfelt congratulations for a job well done. HOOAH!

Photo from www.military.com.

Defending Clinton..Huh?

I have had the fortune of viewing a large portion of the video from tonight’s Fox interview with President Clinton and feel obligated to make a few comments on the subject even prior to the showing.

I am not a Democrat nor was I a voter for President Clinton and like the majority of the public I following the Monica hearings with awe and glee. However, this is where my humorous take on the subject ends.

I recall vividly during those turbulent times for President Clinton that he was often accused of staging a “Wag the Dog” and attempting to remove the interests from his personnel problems to that of bin Laden. During that specific timeline, President Clinton was accused of having bin Laden on the mind many times in Senate hearings.

Now, these same individuals are screaming loudly that Clinton did not do enough to get bin Laden when he had the chance and this is wrong. These same people cannot have it both ways, they cannot scream he is doing too much then change their tune to not doing enough. During that time, I also recall news that President Clinton wanted to enter Afghanistan to hunt for bin Laden and told no by the military and the Senate. Again, these same people cannot have their dinner served both ways.

Personally, I am not nor will be any Clinton supporter, however people cannot rewrite history to suit their needs and desires and to take path is very wrong.

I am sure many more little tidbits will come out of tonight’s interview, however I felt obligated, at least morally to comment on the bin Laden affair.