Victory Institute Action Alert

January 9, 2009

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In September, Navy SEALs captured Ahmed Hashim Abed – a most-wanted al Qaeda leader – during a nighttime raid. Abed is the suspected mastermind of a 2004 ambush that brutally murdered four Blackwater security contractors – including a former SEAL – in Fallujah, Iraq. The contractors were burned, mutilated, and suspended from a bridge. According to the terrorist himself and conflicting statements from another sailor, these SEALs might have hit Abed in the stomach.

The objective of Operation Neptune’s Fury is to exonerate the SEALs, who should be honored as heroes, not tried as criminals.

The charged SEALs are:

• SO2 Matthew McCabe, 24, of Perrysburg, Ohio
• SO1 Julio Huertas, 28, of Blue Island, Ill.
• SO2 Jonathon Keefe, 25, of Yorktown, Va.

All are from SEAL Team Ten in Little Creek, Va.

The Navy has just over 2,000 SEALs, and it takes years of training to become one. These men are some of the most elite warriors in the world. They accomplished their mission, yet could face discharge because the man responsible for the Fallujah ambush could have received a fat lip?

"How long before America’s front-line troops begin to wonder if the country really has their backs?" asked Lt. Col. Ralph Peters in a New York Post op-ed.

Unfortunately, they already are. As a SEAL officer told me in an interview, "SEALs are tired of having to watch their back – not only from the enemy – but also from our own leadership." These warriors clearly need our help. This is a battle that they cannot win.
Take Action!
Let the SEALs know that the United States does have their backs. Admiral Eric Olson is the Commanding Officer of Special Operations Command; he is a SEAL himself and has the authority to stop the trials. Politely inform him that the charges against the SEALs must be dropped. These elite warriors have went above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to securing our freedom, and deserve to be treated as heroes rather than tried as criminals.

Remember, what you communicate could either help or hurt these men’s careers.

1. Call Admiral Eric Olson at               (813) 826.5100         (813) 826.5100
2. Or Fax (813) 825.5109
3. Or Email: olsone@socom.mil
4. Then Forward this to as many people as possible

Sign up to receive Victory Institute Action Alerts here.

Donate to the SEALs’ Legal Defense Fund

I encourage all of you who can do this to express your opinion and your support for these men in honor of the sacrifices they make in the name of our safety and protection.  In my opinion, these men are heroes and Abed is lucky to still draw breath.  His fate has been far more kind than the fate of the men that he captured, tortured, murdered and then hung their desecrated bodies on display for the entire world to see.  Enough is enough.

As we approach the celebration of our hard fought independence just a few weeks away, I have been pondering how far we have come in the past 233 years. We successfully threw off the tyranny of England and forged a new form of government never before seen on the face of the Earth and forever changed the future of this planet.

For years our young country still struggled with many of our own difficulties. Small wars for territories, westward expansion and a bloody civil war to preserve this fledgling nation and end the stain of slavery all plagued us within the first century. Growing out of these struggles emerged a strong industrial nation. We emerged a nation not only capable of defending ourselves, but we were a nation capable, if not always willing, to stop global threats and liberate millions of people from oppression. Twice this past century we stood against massive global threats and by our sweat, blood and tears entire nations were freed. We survived great depressions and financial recessions always emerging a stronger, more capable nation. This nation has pioneered the fields of medicine, manufacturing, science, engineering and so many others. Our might has brought forth terrible weapons of war, but our compassion has tempered their use only to protect and liberate. Our feet first touched the soil of another planet and our ingenuity gave birth to much of the modern digital world. Our arts, music, television and music lead the modern world in creativity, beauty and skill. Our farms feed the hungry nations of this world, while our medicines heal the sick an injured.

In less than a quarter of a century, this young county of ours has grown to be the greatest nation in the world, comprised of the most generous of people and representing the strongest force for good this world has ever known.

I fear for this nation as our Independence Day approaches. We have abandoned the principles that shaped this nation into what it has been over the past quarter of a century. Today we move farther from the dreams of our founders and we betray their ideals with massive government expansion, government ownership of and interference in private industry and the usurpation of the rights of the States and the citizens by an overly powerful central government. We no longer stand for liberty and freedom. We are no longer willing to protect and liberate the innocent. We no longer have the will to stand against global threats for our own protection nor that of others. We have become a weak shadow of our former selves and we allow our fear of what others think of us to paralyze us into inaction.

Today, citizens of Iran die in the streets while they call for freedom and liberty much as we did just over two centuries ago. We sadly turn our eyes away from the horror, too cowardly to even condemn the actions or voice outrage against this oppressive regime. After years of telling these people to throw off their oppression and rise against this totalitarian government, we turn our back on them when they finally do. We, who possess strongest, most advanced military in the world, cower in the face of public opinion and let innocents suffer at the hand of a brutal government, just as we did in Somalia and Darfur.

Is it because we are so focused on the possible nuclear threat posed by the rogue nation in Asia who threatens to launch a weapon towards one of our states this very Independence Day? No, unfortunately not. Once again, when we face an open, hostile threat toward the peace and security of this nation and her allies from a unhinged, uncontrollable rogue state that potentially has the capability of delivering nuclear weapons to the continental United States, we cower and do nothing. We stand by and wait for them to act, at which time it may be too late. Just as before with the horrible attacks of Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center, we want to avoid conflict at all cost while our enemies plot our destruction. If we have learned nothing else from our past, the one thing we should have learned is that appeasement of our enemies is the fastest way to cost more American lives than was necessary. It failed with Germany. It failed with Japan. It failed when Israel had tried it with the Palestinians. It has failed when we have tried it with the terrorist threats we face today. Appeasement is weakness.

I fear for the future of this nation, her citizens and all those worldwide who depend America’s benevolence, compassion and strength. What exists before your eyes today is a shadow of its former self, an echo of its strength and a pale reminder of its purpose and will. I will celebrate this Independence Day with some sadness in my heart as I realize, this could well be one of the last ones we celebrate, lest we offend some other minor groups of people who hate us no matter what we do.

Once again we see the intolerance, violence and hatred of the left. There have been many leftists that I have disagreed with, vehemently at times. However, I can recall not one single incident where I actually wish physical harm to come to one, especially not publicly or to such a vicious level at to completely demean the subject.

Here is your tolerant left. Here are your champions of women’s rights. No. The sarcasm fails me. They are nothing of the sort.

Today, Playboy Magazine published a list a list called So Right, It’s Wrong. This is a list of the top ten conservative women that they would like to hate f*ck. You heard me right. I did not coin that term, it was used many, many times in the vile article posted on the Playboy website. That is until the cowards pulled the article due to the outrage it caused. If you want to view some of the postings, I found a website that captured screen shots of the insulting article before the spineless scum at Playboy pulled it. You can view the comments on these professional women and the abhorrent languages used to describe how they would like to have violent sex with them, on RedState (Caution: Content Possibly NSFW).

What I find so infuriating about situations such as this is that when it is a leftist showing their complete intolerance of, hatred of and violence towards others it is somehow acceptable. There has been no mainstream media condemnation of this vile assault against these women. None on the left have come forward to condemn the actions of these petulant children for their assault on these women. Just as when that complete waste of skin Perez Hilton assaulted Carrie Prejean because she gave an honest opinion that he did not share, the left can call these women horrible names and suggest vile actions against them and it seems acceptable.

However, we are not to criticize a judicial nominee based on her racist comments or horrible record from the bench, when the Democrats schemed to prevent Miguel Estrada from being nominated to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals based solely on the fact that he was Hispanic, ignoring that he was one of the most well respected trail lawyers and was supremely qualified.

We are told to be nice and not criticize President Obama’s dishonest, appeasing, apologetic speech where he panders to those who would just as well see us dead, when the left spent the last several years calling multiple members of the Bush administration everything from murders to Hitler himself.

We are said to be the sexist, racists, intolerant, ignorant rednecks, clinging to our guns and religion, but when you look for intolerance and hate, you only need to look to the left to find abundant examples. I will not stand for this hypocritical double standard bullshit any longer. Every single one of the people responsible for this article should be immediately terminated from Playboy. That means authors, producers, editors, researchers, etc. Everyone needs to be gone for this abomination against these women. I mean if Don Imus gets canned for a nappy headed ho comment, then these guys have to hit the pavement and hit it now.

No longer will I stand for the racist, sexist, hateful, bigot claims of the left. I dare anyone to bring that argument to me. I will bury anyone who does in multiple examples of bigotry and hypocrisy from the left. I am done with this hateful bullshit. I will stand for it no longer.

I did not get to hear the speech that President Obama gave this morning, but I have just finished reading its transcript. I have to admit that this man can surely stir emotions within me when he delivers a speech. Unfortunately these emotions are frustration, embarrassment, shame and fear. I want to examine a few points of his speech that really caught my eye and cause me grave concern.

“The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights.”

Uhm, no. The Qur’an has done that. The religion itself has done that. The very words of Mohamed himself have done that. Islam is hostile to America and anyone who does not believe as they do. It is NOT the religion of peace and it is absolutely intolerant of any other religions or non-believers. I can quote passage after passage, and have done so before, that show Islam to be the violent religion that it is, completely opposed to the basic human rights that we cherish.

“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

Again, Islam is intolerant and does not respect any who do not believe. There is no mutual interest that can be seen between a Muslim and an infidel. The principles of justice that Islam prescribes are violent and absolute ones, showing no mercy or compassion whatsoever. They practice honor killings without trials or remorse, even unto their own flesh and blood. They beat women for being independent, outspoken and free willed. They suffer no deviance from this strict religious and accept no argument towards moderation. The question of same sex marriage is an easy one to answer under an Islamic style system of justice: simply kill the homosexuals and there is no issue.

“There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.”

They will not listen to us. They wish to learn nothing from us. They will never respect infidels. There is absolutely no common ground.

“It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.”

Let’s see here… Algebra was developed by the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians well before Islam ever existed so, no. The magnetic compass is believed to have been developed in China during the Qin Dynasty of 221-206BC, so again, no. Other tools of navigation, possibly but that is too vague a statement to discern. Our mastery of pens and printing? Well since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440 in Germany, the Chinese perfected movable clay type in 1041 and the Buddhist introduced the earliest form of block printing in 880AD, I am calling this one false as well. The statement that they have given us our understanding of how disease spreads and is cured is just beyond ignorant. This understanding has come from many cultures, both ancient and modern. Islamic culture has also given us: terrorist hijackings, suicide bombers, honor killings, wife beatings, barbaric executions, jihads against innocent civilians and oppression of women’s rights for centuries. Throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds it absolute intolerance of other religions and racial hatred.

“As the Holy Koran tells us, ‘Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.’”

Well, that is true and in that case I fear that President Obama is completely screwed. This entire speech was full of lies, half-truths and utter bullshit. Maybe tomorrow I will go into the absurdity of his support for Iran’s nuclear program that he briefly highlights in this openly apologetic and appeasement full speech.

There has been an awful lot of discussion surrounding the torture subject again since the Obama administration has floated the idea of criminal investigations into the harsh interrogation methods used by the CIA to extract information from al-Qaida operatives. The Obama administration has received both harsh criticism and demands for further investigation after the releasing the CIA memos detailing the interrogation methods used by the CIA and the decision making process surrounding them. I believe this is a reckless step aimed at political gain and poses a great risk to our nation on many fronts.

To begin this discussion, one must first decide what exactly torture is and what remains a harsh interrogation method that does not cross this line. This is a question over which much debate has raged throughout the last few years. While some clearly see water boarding as torture, others disagree and find the practice perfectly acceptable when used in high level, critical interrogations where other methods have failed. Many would also argue that these interrogation methods are ineffective and do not produce reliable results. However, it appears that the evidence in hand on that point tends to demonstrate otherwise.

This is a difficult question to answer, as Americans have always fought against regimes that torture and abuse people. Therefore to even consider such measures must place great strain on our core beliefs. Herein lies a question faced by many of our great leaders in the past, to what lengths can we go to protect this nation without destroying what this nation stands for? When President Lincoln was faced with the dissolution of the Union, he suspended the basic rights guaranteed under by Constitution under the Bill of Rights and marched a standing army against American citizens to preserve that Union. When President Truman faced the decision to invade Japan at the cost of millions upon millions of American and Japanese lives, or to drop tremendously devastating weapons of mass destruction on civilian population centers in an attempt to force a Japanese surrender, he chose the lesser of two evils and the lower cost of life. When President Bush was faced with another impending terrorist attack on this nation, he authorized what methods he thought legal and justified to extract the information from our enemies that allowed us to prevent these attacks. For none of these men were these decisions light, but they were easy ones to make. They did what they must to protect this nation in dire times of need. They chose the only path they could to save this nation or the lives of her citizens.

For me this question is simple. I for one do not consider water boarding to be torture, nor do I consider many of the other methods detailed in the memos that were foolishly released by the Obama administration to be above the uncrossable line. When dealing with a ruthless enemy who will slowly cut the head off of an innocent American contractor while filming it for propaganda purposes, I find it perfectly acceptable that we would pour water over his head until he decides to talk. When dealing with a people who believe it acceptable to murder their own children in ‘honor killings’ because they have not behaved in some particular way, I find no problem sticking them in a room with an insects that they fear. When dealing with a people that strap bombs on to women and children, teach that it is acceptable to beat your wives and kill indiscriminately innocent people who will not yield to their way of life, I do not see a problem with slamming them up against a wall and threatening to beat the information out of them.

Someone asked me a very simple question one day in an attempt to define what I saw as torture. If your children had been kidnapped and the man sitting before you had the information that would save their lives, to what lengths would you go to obtain that information? Where ever you chose to stop or whatever you decided you could not do, was your definition of torture. After contemplating the question for some time, I realized that it is not that difficult of a question for me to answer. This may make me a horrible person in some people’s eyes, but I could think of very little that I would not do to save the life of just one of my children, not mention all of them. If the person still possessed the ability to draw breath once they gave me what I needed, they should consider themselves very fortunate indeed. I would gladly water board him and his entire family to save my children and I would sleep well at night knowing I had done so. I would stop at nothing to protect my children. How could I think less of a nation that did likewise to protect her citizens?

Someone once argued with me that I would be sacrificing my morality by taking such actions, even in the defense of my children. I disagree. I feel that it would be a moral imperative to do anything and everything possible to save my children. Failing to do so would be the ultimate moral failure. These people have sworn to kill as many innocent Americans as the possibly can by any means that they can. We are at war with an enemy that knows no rules and respects no boundaries. Our citizens and soldiers are offered no quarter and are brutally murdered and hung in public as examples of their barbarism. How there are people in this country who have a problem with pouring water on these people to scare them into releasing information that will thwart their horrific plans is far beyond me. Failing to do so, to me, seems the ultimate failure of a nation and its moral obligation to protect its people.

In the short month since President Obama has been inaugurated he has made good on his promise to deliver change to this nation. We have seen a massive increase in Federal spending from the pork laden $820 billion stimulus package to the Omnibus appropriations bill filled with over 8,500 earmark projects. Earlier this week the President hosted a fiscal responsibility convention where political leaders from across this nation gathered to discuss our soaring deficit and struggling economy. At the conclusion of this summit, President Barack Obama stood before the nation and simply lied to our faces. He promised that the Federal government would operate on a pay-as-you-go program and ensured us that he would not spend any money that we did not actually have. He promised to cut non-essential programs in favor of those critical to the success of this nation, not raise taxes on any families making less than $250,000 annually and ensure that Washington did not leave a massive debt that would crush our future generations. Apparently, it was all a lie.Yesterday, Obama released his new fiscal budget to Congress totaling nearly $3.5 trillion dollars in a direct contradiction to his words just days earlier. Considering the $700 billion dollars already allocated to financial bailouts, the $820 billion dollars in the federal stimulus package, the $420 billion dollars in the Omnibus appropriations bill and not the $3.5 trillion dollars in the new Federal budget, within his first month in office, President Barack Obama has spent over $5.4 trillion dollars with promises of more to come. Our nation and our economy will be crushed under this massive debt. This is more money that any country has ever spent in such a short time in the history of this planet. This is the change we were looking for?

To show a fine example of more undesirable change, allow me to explain the new decision handed down by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. Since 1991 it has not been permissible for the media to photograph fallen soldiers returning home from a war zone. President George H.W. Bush prohibited this practice in 1991 during Desert Storm as a means of protecting those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation from being politicized in the media. Acknowledging the dishonor that this nation did unto its servicemen in past wars by using them and their sacrifice as political tools to seed dissent, President Bush (41) decided that he would no longer allow the media to photograph fallen soldiers returning to military bases in this nation. Yesterday, Secretary Gates decided that the media’s desire to plaster images of dead soldiers on television, websites and periodicals across this nation in an attempt to discredit this war should be allowed. I will give him the credit for providing the stipulation that the families must give permission for this to occur, but I can just imagine what will come of this. The first time a media outlet convinces a family to allow them to photograph their fallen loved one so that they might honor their service and sacrifice and then turns around an politicizes the soldiers death as a means to further a political agenda, Gates’ resignation should be demanded.

The media claims that Americans have been sheltered from the real cost of war by not allowing them to photograph our returning dead. Bullshit. We know the cost of war. We know the sacrifice made by those that the media dismisses as murderers before a fair trial. We know the price paid by the returning dead and wounded. I know personally. I have a dear friend who fought willingly for his country and fell in battle to a sniper round. Luckily the brilliance of military surgeons saved his life in Baghdad, but he will never be the same. The round stuck him in one temple and exited the other doing serious brain damage along the way. By the skill of those surgeons and the grace of God he managed to live, but his life is forever changed due to his injury. We know the cost.

If the media were not completely biased and had shown willingness to report fairly about this conflict, this might be a different story. All we ever hear from Iraq and Afghanistan is negative. None of the good is ever reported. I still have friends serving there. I hear from them how the children run to them when they see them on the street and how civilians invite them into their homes to thank them for what they have done for their country. We hear of Marines who killed innocent civilians, but we do not hear of the ones that placed themselves in extraordinary danger to avoid civilian casualties. We hear of soldiers who violated their rules of engagement, but never of those who lost their lives because those rules so restricted them from defending themselves as they needed to.

I have another friend, a Marine. This is a good man, good father and fiercely dedicated soldier. He flies an F/A-18 Hornet for the Corps and I personally know he has taken innocent lives in this conflict. Were the incident left unto the media, my friend would be labeled as a murderer, a horrible example of American aggression, but he is so far from that it is not the least bit humorous. What was his crime? What drove him to kill several innocent civilians? The answer is very simple: bad intelligence. What he thought was a legitimate, approved target containing high level al-Qaeda leaders, was not. Was it his fault that the wrong vehicles were in the wrong place and the wrong time? Was it the analyst fault or the soldiers that collected the intelligence that they were sure was solid? Was it the commander’s fault who issued the strike order? Was it the fault of the ground crews that loaded his weapons or the tanker crew that topped him off on his ingress to his target? No. None of them deserve the blame as this was not an intentional attack on civilians. This was an unfortunate mistake; something that happens quite often in war. This does not make my friend or anyone else involved some horrible person who disregarded human life. It makes them all soldiers doing the best to serve their country with honor and integrity. Things such as these unfortunately occur in war, but left to the wiles of the media my friend, this good faithful soldier, would have been made out to be a murder instead of the hero that he is. They would not have cared about all the close air support missions he flew covering other soldiers and Marines that were pinned down. They would not have cared that at times he took out targets using only the cannon on his fighter to avoid collateral damage when he carried a full payload of much more destructive weapons that would have kept him out of harm’s way. They would not have cared that this incident tore him up emotionally; leaving him unable to fly combat missions for weeks until he stopped blaming himself for those innocent deaths and realized that it was part of war. They would not have cared that this strong, seasoned jarhead called his wife crying the day that it happened and was unable to even tell her why. To the media, he would just be a murder. We know the cost of war and we know where the intent of the media lies.

Now these people have the ability to photograph our fallen dead as they are returned in honor to an ungrateful nation and a mourning family. This is the change we can believe in? Well, this is the change that we got.

Today begins the fifth day of Israeli air strikes into the Gaza Strip. Earlier this morning, Israel rejected a United Nations proposed 48-hour cease-fire and continued its punishing air campaign against the militant terrorist. While the UN wrings its hands over the civilian casualties and humanitarian problems the Israeli air campaign is causing, Israel is building up ground forces to send into Gaza and finish the job. Good.

For starters, it was ignorant of the UN to suggest a cease-fire in the first place. This current conflict started when the previous cease-fire ended and Hamas started lobbing rockets into Israeli cities. What would be accomplished by agreeing to another cease-fire other that giving Hamas the time to regroup and rearm? No, Israel should give no respite to these violent thugs who prey on innocent civilians. They should obliterate them form the face of the Earth and take the Gaza Strip back into Israeli protection.

Gaza is no longer a Palestinian protectorate. It has been reduced to nothing more than and armed camp stockpiled with Chinese and Iranian made weapons and supplied through underground tunnels used to smuggle those weapons to Hamas.

Time and time again, Israel has capitulated to the demands of Hamas and Hezbollah. They have given land for peace, showed incredible restraint while under constant assault and painstakingly tried to avoid civilian casualties when it did retaliate against the aggressors. What has it gotten them? Shells and rockets raining into their major cities, terrorist blowing themselves up in malls and pizza joints and the condemnation of the insufferable and corrupt United Nations Human Rights Council.

I am sick to death of hearing people chastise Israel for her actions against Hamas and fortunately I seem to not be the only one. In a surprising change of heart, Egypt has placed its military on high alert and canceled all personal leaves, brining its military to its highest state of readiness. They are apparently supporting Israel’s prosecution of Hamas and have stated that they will seal off the southern border of the Gaza Strip if Israel sends in ground forces thereby preventing the escape of Hamas terrorist fleeing Israeli troops. Jordan also appears supportive of Israel and oddly enough, Hezbollah, who historically has joined her Hamas brethren in its terrorist assaults against Israel, has remained remarkably quite and still. This could have something to do with the warning issued from the Israeli Air Force that if it even suspected Hezbollah troop movements, it would immediately begin hitting their forces in the north. It seems that some of these countries in the Middle East are finally tiring of the endless violence caused by these radical terrorist organizations.

What needs to happen this time is nothing short of the complete destruction of Hamas. Israel needs to completely obliterate them and destroy their ability to regroup and rearm and all those people crying about the inhumanity of Israel’s actions, ask yourselves where were you when innocent Israeli’s were being killed by these terrorist barbarians. Did you protest and demand that Hamas stop their actions against a sovereign nation? Yeah, I did not thinks so.

So I cheer Israel on. Screw Hamas, screw the corrupt UN and screw an idiotic cease-fire agreement that would benefit no one but the terrorists.

Israel must be allowed to defend herself and her citizens. Would you not expect that we would do the same?

Yesterday, Russian President Dimitri Medvedev recognized the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia as independent regions. Medvedev warned the West that Russia is ready for a long term conflict over Eastern Europe, stating, “We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War.” He warned the United States to back down on the anti-ballistic missile shield it is constructing over most of Europe, threatening once again to use military action in Poland if the deal progresses.

Reactions from the European nations and America were predictably terse. The international community immediately condemned the recognition of these regions and cautioned Moscow over escalating the tensions in Eastern Europe.

These statements coincided with reports from the Georgian government that Russian forces were staging a military build-up in Abkhazia in direct violation of the cease-fire reached earlier this month. Georgia reported that its forces had withdrawn after encountering Russian military units within their own territory to avoid additional conflict.

As the international community tries to respond with humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousand of displaced Georgians, Russia continues to threaten the peace and stability of the region and encourage the rebellious provinces to continue to resist the legitimate Georgian government. Two United States warships loaded with relief aid cargo docked at the Georgian port of Batumi within the past few days. The USS McFaul (DDG-74) was reportedly diverted from the port of Poti on Sunday after report from the Georgian government indicated that Russia may have mined the sea lanes surrounding the port. The McFaul docked in Batumi later that day and began delivering 55 tons of relief cargo to help the Georgian refugees. She was joined to that by the USCGC Dallas (WHEC 716) carrying another 34 tons of blankets, food, water and general care supplies. The two relief ship are scheduled to be joined shortly by the USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) one of the United States Navy’s most sophisticated Command, Control, Communications, Computer, and Intelligence (C4I) loaded with additional supplies. I guess that the mighty Russian Black Sea Fleet is terribly intimidated by one Arleigh Burke class destroyer, a Coast Guard cutter and a command ship.

Russia’s response to the relief effort has been ludicrous but strong. Accusing the United States of employing ‘battleship diplomacy’ they are claiming that humanitarian aid is not delivered by battleships and that the ships are smuggling weapons to the Georgians. In response, Russia sent the Slava class guided missile cruiser and two smaller missile boats to the Abkhazian capital port of Sukhumi to counter and control the NATO military ‘build up’ in the Black Sea and warned the United States that its military has no business delivering humanitarian aid. I guess the Russians do not pay close attention to history. Our military has delivered more humanitarian aid to victims of war, poverty and natural disaster than any other force on this planet.

By the way, none of the US ship carrying the aid are battleships. As a matter of fact, all three ships combined have a total displacement of 30,850 tons. Far less than the 45,000 tons than the United States last Iowa class battleship displaced. Not to mention that the Mount Whitney is only armed with defensive weapons. The largest weapons on the entire ship are two 25mm Bushmaster guns. Not much of a threat against a real warship.

As tensions rise on the diplomatic front, a stand off between Russian and American naval vessels hearkens back to the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Many people have already started to compare the two situations directly hinting that the United States is attempting the very same thing that Russia did then. Some critics are suggesting that Russia should use the same tactics that the United States did back then and blockade the Black Sea until we agree to withdraw our missile bases in Easter Europe. There is one critical difference that cannot be ignored or explained away no matter how much the left wants to do so.

In 1962, the Soviet Union attempted to stage SS-4 Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs) in Cuba. These are purely offensive weapons with a range of 1,300 mi (2,080 km) and carrying a nuclear payload of 2.3 megatons. Basing these missiles in Cuba would have given Moscow a first strike capability to strike most of the continental United States with little or now warning. It would only have taken about five minutes for the missiles to leave Cuba and strike their targets within the US.

The missiles we are deploying in Europe are purely defensive in nature with absolutely no offensive capabilities whatsoever. The Anti-Ballistic Missile (AMB) shield will be most likely composed of a variant on the RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 that was used to knock USA 193 out of low orbit on February 14th, 2008 and MIM-104 Patriot PAC3 missile systems. These platforms are interceptors only. They are incapable of direct offensive actions against Russian territory and carry a conventional, non-nuclear warhead. The MIM-104F missile carries a 200 lb conventional M248 Composition B high explosive warhead while the RIM-161s use a purely kinetic Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) warhead.

There is an incredible difference between the situation and anyone who pretends not to understand that is either a moron or a leftist shill making excuses for Russia’s aggression.

So was it all grandstanding? With the recent military actions in Georgia, threats of strikes on Poland, hints of a nuclear exchange, warnings to other former states such as the Ukraine and statements of severing connections between Russia and NATO, it has appeared for the last few days that Russia and the West were headed towards an inevitable conflict. The world has held its collective breath as things developed over the past few days, ranging from bad to worse to bizarre. Now things seem to have taken another twist.

Today Georgian officials are reporting the Russian forces appear to be leaving Gori, a critical crossroads town dividing the east and west regions of Georgia, just days after saying that they would not leave despite the cease-fire agreement. As the pull out deadline past a few days ago, Russian troops were instead digging in positions and preparing for a stay. It now appears that they are withdrawing over most of the uncontested regions of Georgia and heading back into Southern Ossestia. The question now will be to see if Russia will actually honor the cease-fire and pull back to their positions prior to August 7th, 2008. This will mean removing all Russian forces from within the sovereign borders of Georgia, something just days ago Moscow was unwilling to do.

It also appears that Russia is playing off the statements made by its Foreign Ministry regarding Russia severing all diplomatic ties to NATO. Shortly after the statements were made, NATO officials requested confirmation from the Russian government and attempted to contact the Russian ambassador to NATO. It seems that Russia is pretending that the statement was never made and the ambassador has not been available for comment over the past two days. At one point he was not even taking the calls coming form NATO. The statement about ending diplomatic relations has not been confirmed or denied by the Russian government, leaving them plenty of room to maneuver politically. They can confirm the message at anytime which would change things dramatically or they can claim that the statement was in error or made by an unauthorized source allowing them to defuse the situation somewhat without loosing face.

So what has all this been? Was this nothing more that Russia trying to re-establish its status as a major military power in Europe? Was it a strong arm effort by Russia to exert their influence and military power over its neighbors? Or was this a carefully calculated attempt to measure the NATO response to military actions against its former states and a warning of things to come?

Earlier today Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice completed an agreement with her Polish counterpart to stage an anti-ballistic missile system in Poland. The ten interceptor missiles will be part of the larger missile shield over central Europe designed to protect Europe from missile threats from rouge states such as Iran. Earlier this year, the Czech Republic, Poland’s neighbor to the southwest and another former satellite state of the Soviet Union, agreed to place the main radar control system for this system in their country. Both agreements have been met with strong opposition from the Russian government, but not as strong as what was delivered by the Russian foreign ministry after the announcement of the Polish-American agreement this morning.

The Russian government has already threatened strong action over the basing of the radar system in the Czech Republic, but today they elevated the threat to the possibility of a nuclear strike against Poland. General Anatoly Nogovitsyn was quoted as saying that, “Poland, by deploying [the system] is exposing itself to a strike – 100%.” As if this threat was not enough, he continued by noting that Russian military doctrine permitted the use of nuclear weapons against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them. This has been seen as a clear and direct threat to Poland and to the United States of America.

Condoleezza Rice warned Russia of statement such as these and cautioned them on the path that they are taking. “When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988,” Rice said. “It’s 2008 and the United States has a … firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland’s territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it’s probably not wise to throw these threats around.”

Relations with Russia are already strained over the Georgian conflict, an issue that prompted the United States to agree to base additional short range defensive systems in Poland in the form of MIM-104 Pac 3 Patriot missile systems. This final item, something that Poland has been holding out for, became a clear necessity with the conflict in Georgia and the U.S. agreed to the additional defensive measures earlier this week.

At the same time as this was developing in Poland, Russia halted its withdrawal out of Georgia claiming that Russian forces would remain to establish 18 long-term checkpoints inside Georgian territory, eight of which are outside of the contested areas entirely. This is a blatant and direct violation of the cease-fire agreement reached by France last week. Nogovitsyn stated, “The president ordered us to stop where we were. We are not pulling out and pulling back troops behind this administrative border into the territory of South Ossetia.”

NATO has now suspended its normal ties with Russia with Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stating, “There can be no business as usual with Russia under present circumstances.” Meanwhile, the former states of the Soviet Union are banding together to resist this new resurgence of Russian control and begging the rest of NATO and the European Union to do the same. Russia is acting like a school yard bully who has just been told to behave by the lunch lady and shrugging off all demands and threats of action from the West. Their indignation and threats are escalating this situation into something that can absolutely not be ignored. It is one thing to threaten a small nation with military force. It is another thing entirely to threaten a NATO ally with a direct nuclear strike.

Russia followed up this afternoon by announcing that they were severing diplomatic ties with NATO. This is a serious step as it is often seen as a precursor to military action if not all out war.

Unfortunately, the moron on the left are showing their ignorance of the implications of this and championing Russia’s admittance into NATO. That is right folks, this is some how our fault. The fact that Russia has decided to flex its muscles and overrun its neighbors is our fault because we did not talk to them, just like some bullshit excuse for an unruly child who needs his butt spanked. In an ignorant LA Times article, Andrew Meier, former Moscow correspondent for Time magazine and published author, came to the infantile conclusion that the answer it to allow Russia into NATO. Somehow this moron comes to the conclusion that because Russia is a strong economic we should engage them more and I assume allow this bullshit to go unchallenged.

No! Have we learned absolutely nothing from our history? You do not talk to a bully. You stand up to him and knock him on his ass, making it supremely clear that you will not tolerate any more of his shit. Solidarity and determined resistance to this new foreign policy that Russia has decided to shove down the throat of Europe is what is required. As Meier pointed out in his article, Let Russia join NATO, Russia supplies Europe with a great deal of its petroleum products. It has made Russia fairly wealthy, especially when compared to its former status. If Russia is smart, it will not be willing to risk this lucrative market because of military conflict with Europe. If they are not smart, then there is nothing Europe will be able to do to prevent the oncoming fight. Sometimes you have to stare the bully down. It may cause a fight, but if you continue to do nothing, the bully will continue to control your life.

Welcome to the new Cold War. Let’s pray it stays cold.