Monthly Archives: June 2014

Jun 20 2014

The Collapse of the US Economic System


NO JOBS

The Great Recession actually started in November 2007 as that was the month that jobs in the US started to decline from their peak in the previous month October. The collapse in the financial markets started 12 months later in October 2008 just prior to the presidential election. This analysis is intended to show what was in place at the peak October 2007 compared to today May 2014. In this analysis we will use only official government data; however it will be adjusted to reflect TOTAL Employment not just what the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows each month with their employment status report. They don’t report the farmers, the self-employed and the military; although those numbers are available, so we just add them to the BLS numbers to get a truer picture of “all” the people earning a living.

All these numbers can be found on the BLS website the most current is USDL-14-0987

For the peak October 2007, the population of the country was 301,811,120 and the BLS showed in their Table B-1 that there were 138,361,400 working comprising 50.04% of the populations in the following three major Categories:

Goods Producing            22,266,000     7.38%
Services                         93,767,500    31.07%
Government                   22,327,900     7.40%
TOTAL BLS                     138,361,400   45.84%

Next we add in the jobs the BLS doesn’t count.

Self Employed                  9,060,900     3.00%
Agriculture                       2,218,100       .73%
Military                             1,418,200       .47%
TOTAL                             12,697,200      4.20%

GRAND TOTAL               151,058,600     50.04%

For May 2014 53 months since the end of the recession the population of the country was 318,138,408 and the BLS showed in their Table B-1 that there were 138,462,300 working comprising 47.22% of the populations in the following three major Categories:

Goods Producing            19,009,000      5.98%
Services                          97,583,900    30.67%
Government                   21,869,400      6.87%
TOTAL                           138,462,300     43.52%

Next we add in the jobs the BLS doesn’t count.

Self Employed                  8,375,000      2.63%
Agriculture                       2,011,000        .63%
Military                             1,400,900        .44%
TOTAL                             11,786,900       3.70%

GRAND TOTAL               150,249,200     47.22%

The difference between the two periods is, by the BLS numbers, that we now have 100,900 more jobs than October 2007 which is good; however if we add back in the agriculture, self-employed and the military we are still short 809,440 jobs. This means there are 809,440 fewer people without a paycheck today than in November 2007. Also note that there are more people in the government than in the goods producing sectors in 2007 and and a lot more in 2014, that just doesn’t seem right.

Making this situation significantly worse are two other factors; the first being that the population has grown by 16,327,288 so that means that there are 16,327,288 more people to be support by 800,000 fewer workers. The second being that since the highest paying jobs for the middle class, in the good producing sectors, are down 3,257,000 jobs from October 2007 and the self employed are down another 685,900 for a total of 3,942,900 fewer middle class jobs. Offsetting this is an increase of 4,043,800 jobs (100,900 jobs more) but they are mostly in the lower paying job categories like food services and temporary help

So the bottom line is fewer people working and those that are working are bring home less money. The shift of a large portion of the manufacturing sector to China and India over the past dozen years has decimated the American middle class and swelled the rolls of those dependent of the federal government for various forms of transfer payments from food stamps to disability payments.

NO ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL SYSTEM CAN SUSTAIN THIS TRANSFORMATION BEING IMPOSED ON THE CITIZENS FROM THE PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL WINGS OF BOTH MAJOR PARTIES. THINGS WILL EITHER CHANGE OR THE AMERICAN SYSTEM WILL COLLAPSE.

 

Jun 19 2014

Congress Decides the US Constitution is a Threat to National Security


National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

This is taken from the website of KrisAnne Hall (http://krisannehall.com/) a Constitutional Attorney and is about the NDAA which is the congressional bill that funds the Department of Defense and as such must be passed every year. I attended one of her seminars and although I am not an attorney I was involved with many legal business issues mostly with contracts and so I speak with direct knowledge about the way attorneys write things and, in my opinion,  KissAnne knows her subject and should be listened to very seriously.

The principles of habeas corpus and due process extend as far back as 12th century England. These principles were among the most fearfully guarded liberties among America’s founders.   If truth be told it was abuses of due process and an unresponsive government (not simply burdensome taxes) that were the primary causes of the American Revolution. Notice the words of these distinguished Americans:

Ø “Trial by jury in civil causes…trial by jury in criminal causes, [and] the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus…all stand on the same footing; they are the common rights of Americans.” ~Richard Henry Lee

Ø “For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:  For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences” ~Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson

Ø “The founders of our nation considered the right of trial by jury…an important bulwark against tyranny and corruption, a ‘safeguard too precious to be left to the whim of the sovereign.” ~Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 1979

Yet, here we are today in the midst of a startling attack on some of our most fundamental liberties.   As I write this, our Senate debates a bill that will undermine the very due process rights that thousands of brave souls have bled and died for.

Senate Bill 1867, also known as the National Defense Authorization Act, is the means by which Congress funds the military and is therefore a “must pass bill.”  No politician wants to be the one who voted to defund the military, especially if you are a so-called conservative.   Those who would be disposed to usurp the Liberties of this land take these must pass bills and convert them into Trojan horses.  This particular Trojan horse puts the due process rights of American citizens in serious jeopardy through sections 1031 and 1032.

Sections 1031 and 1032 of this bill are completely unrelated to the funding of the military.  These sections, we are told, will ‘save us from terrorists’.  The plan is to remove the Constitutional right of habeas corpus and persons deemed to be terrorists will be detained indefinitely, out of the country.  The built-in premise is that the right of habeas corpus is somehow a threat to national security. 

Who wouldn’t want to stop terrorists? Don’t we all want to be safe?  Aren’t terrorist the very demons we should be fighting today?  If you don’t support this bill you are a terrorist sympathizer.

Am I a terrorist sympathizer simply because I believe that you shouldn’t have to circumvent the Constitution to do your job? Particularly considering the very job description these Congressmen swore to do was to “support and defend the Constitution.”   It is mindboggling that those with the power and responsibility to PROTECT LIBERTY are the very ones who will justify its destruction.  Here are the arguments put forth in favor of these dangerous provisions:

1.       These Sections Specifically Limit Actions Of The Government To Al-Qaeda And Taliban Terrorists Involved In 9/11

False.  This refers to sec. 1031(b) Covered Persons: (1) A person who planned, authorized, committed , or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks. (2) A person who was part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition forces…

I suppose all would be well, if this were the end of this section.  However, the devil is always in the details.  Attorneys are trained to look for loopholes, and those who wrote this bill were attorneys, so they are either ignorant or inserting holes to provide doors for future activity.  Door No. 1:

…including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.

Belligerent act? There you have it, the open door to include just about anyone.  Now don’t think these words are not well planned and don’t for one minute assume you know their definitions.  Remember John McCain and Joe Leiberman’s  “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010″?  This act failed, but that has not stopped John McCain.  This Enemy Belligerent Act defines a Belligerent as: an individual, including a citizen of the United States, determined to be an unprivileged enemy belligerent…an individual who: 1) has engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners; or 2) has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.”  Hostilities? And the door swings wide open.

Next argument:

2.       Section 1032 Does Not Cover US Citzens.

False.  Section 1032(2) states that the requirement to detain an individual applies to someone who has been determined to be “a member of, al-Qaeda or an associated force that acts in coordination with or pursuant to the direction of al-Qaeda: and to have participated in the course of planning or carrying out an attack or attempted attack against the United States or its coalition partners.”

Sounds pretty limiting right?  Well, here’s Door No. 2, section (4) “The Secretary of Defense (Leon Panetta) may, in consultation with the Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) and the Director of National Intelligence (James R. Clapper), waive the requirements of paragraph (1) if the Secretary submits to Congress a certification in writing that such a waiver is in the national security interests of the United States.”

There you have it. All limitations fly out the window if the government  determines a “national security interest”.  But those that planted these loopholes are not finished.

The next argument alleges:

3.       Section 1032(b)(1) Specifically Excludes US Citizens

False.  Section 1032(b)(1) states “The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.”  Is this the part that is supposed to stop the government from detaining US Citizens?  Any decent attorney would tell you that the “prohibitive language” in this statement is a bit ambiguous.  What this section says is the REQUIREMENT to detain doesn’t extend to US Citizens.  That means they don’t have to detain them, but what if they want to!  Open Door No. 3, let all who enter beware!

All this sounds a bit alarmist right?  Why do I think the language is cleverly crafted to be more than it appears?  Because those who support this bill do not WANT to protect the liberty of US Citizens.  They will, when cornered with the truth, tell you that any US Citizens who is involved with terrorists “DOES NOT deserve Constitutional rights.”  The idea that US Citizens do not deserve their Constitutional rights is a very frightening statement.  But put that in conjunction with the understanding that it is the government, specifically this current administration, that gets to CHOOSE which citizens do not deserve their Constitutional rights.

Still sounds alarmist right? After all we are talking about terrorists.  So you don’t like terrorist?  I don’t either.  But I do love Liberty and I do fear the power of unlimited government.  And what happens when the government determines you to fit the definition of a terrorist?  Janet Napolatano says that soldiers returning from Iraq and those who oppose abortion fit the bill. Which US Citizens DO YOU think should not have protections under the Constitution? Which one of our rights is a threat to national security and need to be curtailed or eliminated?  Remember William Pitt’s words, “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.   It is the argument of tyrants.  It is the creed of slaves.”

Terrorism is real and we must combat it. But you cannot have peace without Liberty!  According to Benjamin Franklin, “Anyone who would trade Liberty for temporary security deserves neither Liberty nor security”. He specifically said, “temporary security” because he knew that being “safe” is a fleeting feeling.  You may think trading just a small piece of Liberty today is worth feeling safe.  However, tomorrow safety will fly away when a bigger boogey man turns the corner.  Then will you be willing to trade a little more? Remember, the funny thing about temporarily giving anything to the government is that you don’t get it back and they always want more.  Two words: Income Tax.

John Adams stated in his inaugural address in 1797, if “our Government can be influenced by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror or intrigue the Government may not be the choice of the American People, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations that govern us and not we the people who govern ourselves.”  He was telling us that when the government operates under the motivating factor of fear, those that scare us rule us.  He continued with his warning by saying, “If we are to have a free republican government we must have an attachment to the Constitution and a conscientious determination to support it.”  Our only hope of Liberty, our only hope of peace, is through the Constitution, not by circumventing it.

Congress took an oath to PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES; they did not take an oath to defeat terrorism.  They must stick with their oath; because, the principles in the Constitution do not change; the definition of terrorist apparently changes based on political ideology.

Ronald Reagan called America the last bastion of hope.  He was remembering a statement by Daniel Webster, “Hold onto the Constitution and to the republic for which she stands.  Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6000 years may never happen again.  Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.”  Our Congress has an obligation to us, an obligation to our children, and an obligation to the world.

We must stand for Liberty today or our children will bow tomorrow.  I stand with Patrick Henry when he said, “Gentlemen may cry, “Peace! Peace!” — but there is no peace. What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

Jun 19 2014

THE VA Ordered a Nationwide “Mass Purge” of Veterans Medica Records


This is from the Judicial Watch

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that in March 2014 it obtained internal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) documents revealing that on November 25, 2009, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) was informed that top VA officials had ordered a nationwide purge of “all outstanding [MRI] imaging orders for studies older than 6 months.” Seven days later, on December 2, 2009, the OIG closed its investigation without taking further action.

The documents obtained by Judicial Watch also detail repeated efforts by VA whistleblower Oliver Mitchell, a Marine veteran and former patient services assistant, to persuade the OIG to fully investigate the mass destruction of veterans’ medical files and the cancellation of examination requests. The documents, dating back to 2009, reveal that OIG spent barely two months investigating the allegations before closing the case.

The VA documents came in response to a February 27, 2014, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Judicial Watch seeking “records of communications between officials of the Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Medical Center [GLA] from August 1, 2008, to July 32, 2009, relating to the destruction of patient medial files and the cancellation of medical exam requests.” The FOIA request also sought records in the possession of the Veterans Administration’s Office of Inspector General relating to the GLA’s alleged destruction of patients’ medical files and examination requests.

Judicial Watch received two batches of documents from the VA OIG in response to the February FOIA request. The first was a five-page document containing the revelation that the GLA had sent a memo to the OIG in November 2009 revealing that Dr. Charles Anderson, the VA National Radiology Director, had sent instructions to conduct the purge. According to the GLA memo, sent in response to an OIG inquiry:

During the period of time in question, the backlog of outstanding requests for MRI Imaging studies across the Veterans Health Administration dated back 10 years.  Central Office and the office of Dr. Charles Anderson, National Radiology Director, instructed all Imaging Services across the country to mass purge all outstanding imaging orders for studies older than 6 months, where the procedure was no longer needed, and with approval from the individual healthcare system’s Medical Executive Committee (MEC) ….

The memo failed to explain either how decisions were made as to which “procedures were no longer needed,” or what would warrant the “approval from the individual healthcare system.” The OIG investigation, conducted from September 23 to December 2, 2009, was closed within seven days after the GLA memo was received. The Daily Callerreported:

“We just didn’t have the resources to conduct all of those exams. Basically we would get about 3,000 requests a month for [medical] exams, but in a 30-day period we only had the resources to do about 800. That rolls over to the next month and creates a backlog,” Mitchell said. ”It’s a numbers thing. The waiting list counts against the hospitals efficiency. The longer the veteran waits for an exam that counts against the hospital as far as productivity is concerned.”

Another document obtained by Judicial Watch in response to its February VA FOIA request included verbatim disclosures and accusations made by Mitchell, then a Patient Services Assistant in the VA’s Radiology Section. The Mitchell memos, repeatedly urging the OIG to act, had not been previously released to the public:

  • May 12, 2009: “From June 2008 to September 2008 the current interim chief stated, ‘Our clinic had the worst performance numbers compared to other VA’s nationwide’… she also stated ‘management stated no MRI orders should be cancelled and/or deleted’ … Shortly thereafter, I noticed that requests for MRIs were being cancelled dating from the year 2000 to November 2008. I approached the current interim chief about this matter in which she responded ‘management was all over her and she had to do something.’”
  • March 24, 2009: “Since my employment within this department I have witnessed ‘valid requests for MRI’s’ being cancelled and/or deleted from the system as a means of reducing the number of requests for MRI’s pending. This has been ongoing since my employment here. It is my opinion that the harassment, death threats and threats of termination I have received are due to my vocal opposition to this practice.”
  • March 24, 2009: “In February 2009 I received via voicemail a complaint from the daughter of a Veteran who stated her father had come to the VA for care and the doctor had submitted a request for a MRI. The daughter expressed great sadness and anger in our process stating her father had suffered from a massive stroke while waiting for his MRI appointment. I informed Dr. [REDACTED] of the voicemail and her response was to give her the request and not speak of the matter, she stated, ‘I already have enough tort claims as it is.’ Shortly after this, I noticed that more request were being deleted from the system.”
  • May 12, 2009: “It is my opinion that this department has not been able to meet its mandated obligations with regards to performance. The administrative process is flawed and has resulted in deaths, continued pain and suffering and an overall decline in Veterans’ health due to the lengthy wait for an MRI.”

“This shows that the Obama administration long knew of the deadly abuse being suffered by our nation’s veterans at the hands of the VA and did nothing about it,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Can you imagine waiting months to have a MRI only to have it cancelled by a government bureaucrat?  The American public should thank Oliver Mitchell for coming forward and blowing this whistle on this deadly corruption.”

Jun 19 2014

The Growing Salafi-jihadist movement


A current RAND report warns:

“The threat posed by this diverse set of groups varies widely, though several of these groups pose a substantial threat to the U.S. homeland or U.S. interests overseas. Some are locally focused and have shown little interest in attacking Western targets. Others, like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, present an immediate threat to the U.S. homeland, along with inspired individuals like the Tsarnaev brothers—the perpetrators of the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

“In addition, some Salafi-jihadist groups pose a medium-level threat because of their desire and ability to target U.S. citizens and facilities overseas, including U.S. embassies. Examples include Ansar al-Sharia Tunisia, al Shabaab, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the various Ansar al-Sharia groups in Libya.

“The broad trends indicate that the United States needs to remain focused on countering the proliferation of Salafi-jihadist groups, which have started to resurge in North Africa and the Middle East, despite the temptations to shift attention and resources to the Asia-Pacific region and to significantly decrease counterterrorism budgets in an era of fiscal constraint.”

The current American administration of “progressive” ideological’s has no clue what this report says, and that is very bad for the rest of us!

This was found on the Christian Action Network

http://www.christianaction.org/news/2014/6/18/new-studies-assess-increased-terror-threat

Jun 18 2014

Analysis of Global Temperature Trends, May 2014


What really going on with the Climate?

The analysis and plots shown here are based on the following: first NASA-GISS temperature anomalies (converted to degrees Celsius) as shown in their table LOTI, second James E. Hansen’s Scenario B data, which is the very core of the IPCC Global Climate models which was based on a CO2 sensitivity value of 3.0O Celsius, lastly, a plot based on an alternative climate model designated ‘PCM’ and based on a sensitively value of .65O Celsius. To smooth monthly variations a 12 month running average is used in all the plots. This information will be shown in four tables and updated each month as the new data comes in.

2014-May
The first plot, UL is a plot of the NASA temperature anomaly converted to degrees Celsius shown in red with a black trend line added. There has been a very clear reversal in the upward movement of global temperatures since about 2001 and neither the UN IPCC nor anyone else has an explanation for this. Since CO2 has continued to increase at what could be argued an increasing rate this raises serious doubts about the logic programmed into all the IPCC global climate models.

The next plot UR, also in red, shows the IPCC estimates of what the Global temperature should be, based on Hansen’s Scenario B, with the NASA actual temperatures’ subtracted from them. Therefore this plot represents a deviation from what the Climate “believers” KNOW what the temperature should be; with a positive value indicating the IPCC values are higher than actual and a negative value indicating the IPCC values are lower than actual. A black trend line is added and we can clearly see that the deviation from expected is increasing at an increasing rate. This makes sense since the IPCC models project increased temperatures based primarily on the increasing level of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere. Unfortunately, for them, the actual temperatures from NASA are trending down (even as they try to hide the down ward movement with data manipulation) since other factors are in play, therefore each year the gap between them widens. Since we have 12 years of observations’ showing this pattern it becomes hard to justify a continuing belief in the IPCC climate models, there is obviously something very wrong.

The next plot LL shown in blue is based on the equations in the PCM climate model described in previous papers and posts here and since it is generated by “equations” a trend line is not needed. As can be seen the PCM, LL, and the NASA, UL, trend plots are very similar the reason being that in the PCM model there is a 68.2 year cycle that moves the trend line up and then down a total of .30O Celsius (currently negative .0070O Celsius per year); and we are now in the downward portion of that trend which will continue until around 2035. This short cycle is clearly observed in the raw NASA data in the LOTI table going back to 1880. Then there is the a long trend, 1052.6 years with an up and down of 1.36O Celsius (currently plus .0029O Celsius per year) also observed in the NASA data. Lastly there is CO2 adding about .005O Celsius per year so they messily wash out which matches the current holding pattern we are in. However with a few years the increasing downward trend of the short cycle will overpower the other tow and we will see drop of about .002O Celsius per year and that will be increasing until till around 2025. After about 2035 the short cycle will turn up and all three will be on the upswing again. These are all round numbers shown here are representative values.

The last plot LR in blue uses the same logic as used in the UR plot, here we use the PCM estimates of what the Global temperature should be with the NASA actual temperatures’ subtracted from them. A positive value indicates the PCM values are higher than actual and a negative value indicates the PCM values are lower than expected. A black trend line was added and it clearly shows that the PCM model is tracking the NASA actual values very closely. In, fact since 1970 the PCM model has rarely been off by more than +/- .1 degrees Celsius and has an average trend of almost zero error, while the IPCC models are erratic and are now approaching an error rate of +.5O above expected.

The IPCC models were designed before a true picture of the world’s climate was understood. During the 1980’s and 1990’s CO2levels were going up and the world temperature was also going up so there appeared to be correlation and causation. The mistake that was made was looking at only a 20 year period when the real variations in climate move in much longer cycles. Those other cycles can be observed in the NASA data but they were ignored for some reason. By ignoring those trends and focusing only on CO2 the models will be unable to correctly plot global temperatures until they are fixed.

The purpose of this post is to make people aware of the errors inherent in the IPCC models so that they can be corrected.

Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian and British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics. He is considered one of the most influential philosophers of science of the 20th century, and he also wrote extensively on social and political philosophy. The following quotes of his apply to this subject.

If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories.

Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve.

… (S)cience is one of the very few human activities — perhaps the only one — in which errors are systematically criticized and fairly often, in time, corrected

 

 

Jun 17 2014

The ISIS aquires US Amour


More Evidence of the Lack of US leadership

According to U.S. intelligence agencies the photos of the equipment transfers from Iraq to Syria were posted online by the ultra-violent terror group known as the ISIS that raided all the arms depots and vehicles belonging to Iraq’s Second Division, based in Mosul, which included a motorized brigade and several infantry brigades. The seized weapons are said to include tanks and helicopters but it’s not clear weather the ISIS has anyone capable of using these weapons. However there were also US Stinger missiles there and they could be used to take out Syrian military or civilian planes; as well as any other aircraft from other countries.

Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Speaks confirmed the weapons transfers and expressed concerns about the captured arms.

“We’re aware of reports of some equipment—namely Humvees—and the pictures that have been posted online,” Speaks said in an email. “We are certainly concerned about these reports and are consulting with the Iraqi government to obtain solid confirmation on what assets may have fallen into ISIL’s hands.”

Speaks added that the loss of the equipment to the terrorist group is “really a matter for the Iraqi government to speak to publicly” because “it is their equipment.” Really does that even matter!  That material, which we gave them, will eventually be used against us and it is this inept administration that allowed this to happen. Maybe Vice president Biden should have thought about this when he decided not to have a “Status of Forces Agreement” with Iraq.

The ISIS claims of setting up a Sunni based Caliphate will be an extremely powerful incentive to those with deep religious beliefs in advancing their goal of world domination. Further, the capture of a significant portion of Iraq and the “desertion” of the US trained Iraq military with embolden the ISIS and will surely enhance their recruiting efforts.

It can not be dismissed that this could lead to unrest in other parts of the global community. 

Jun 16 2014

Betrayal in Benghazi


Not new but it needs to be told again and again so we do not forget.

The Military I knew when I was in is apparently quite different then the military today. The following explanation attributed to Colonel Handley is accurate to the best of my knowledge and consistent with military planning when I was a Captain in the late 60’s.

Colonel Phil “Hands” Handley is credited with the highest speed air-to-air gun kill in the history of aerial combat.  He flew operationally for all but 11 months of a 26-year career, in aircraft such as the F-86 Saber, F-15 Eagle, and the C-130A Hercules.  Additionally, he flew 275 combat missions during two tours in Southeast Asia, earning Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Silver Star. Here is what Col. Handley wrote in response to Panetta and Dempsey’s claims there was no time to send help to Benghazi.

Betrayal in Benghazi
Phil “Hands” Handley Colonel, USAF (Ret.)

The combat code of the US Military is that we don’t abandon our dead or wounded on the battlefield.  In US Air Force lingo, fighter pilots don’t run off and leave their wingmen.  If one of our own is shot down, still alive and not yet in enemy captivity, we will either come to get him or die trying.

Among America ‘s fighting forces, the calm, sure knowledge that such an irrevocable bond exists is priceless.  Along with individual faith and personal grit, it is a sacred trust that has often sustained hope in the face of terribly long odds.

The disgraceful abandonment of our Ambassador and those brave ex-SEAL’s who fought to their deaths to save others in that compound is nothing short of dereliction-of-duty.

Additionally, the patently absurd cover-up scenario that was fabricated in the aftermath was an outright lie in an attempt to shield the President and the Secretary of State from responsibility. The White House strategy, with the aid of a “lap dog” press has been to run out the clock before the truth is forthcoming.

The contention “that there were simply no military assets that could be brought to bear in time to make a difference” mainly due to the unavailability of tanker support for fighter aircraft is simply Bull Chit, regardless how many supposed “experts” the Administration trots out to make such an assertion.

The bottom line is that even if the closest asset capable of response was half-way around the world, you don’t just sit on your penguin ass and do nothing.

The fact is that the closest asset was not half-way around the world, but as near as Aviano Air Base , Italy where two squadrons of F-16Cs are based.

Consider the following scenario (all times Benghazi local): When Hicks in Tripoli receives a call at 9:40 PM from Ambassador Stevens informing him “Greg, we are under attack!” (his last words).  Hicks immediately notifies all agencies and prepares for the immediate initiation of an existing “Emergency Response Plan.”

At AFRICON, General Carter Ham attempts to mount a rescue effort, but is told to “stand down”. By 10:30 PM an unarmed drone is overhead the compound and streaming live feed to various “Command and Control Agencies” so everyone watching that feed knew damn well what was going on.

At 11:30 PM Woods, Doherty and five others leave Tripoli, arriving in Benghazi at 1:30 AM on Wednesday morning, where they hold off the attacking mob from the roof of the compound until they are killed by a mortar direct hit at 4:00 AM.

So nothing could have been done, eh? Nonsense.  If one assumes that tanker support really “was not available” what about this:

When at 10:00 PM AFRICON alerts the 31st TFW Command Post in Aviano Air Base, Italy of the attack, the Wing Commander orders preparation for the launch of two F-16s and advises the Command Post at NAS Sigonella  to prepare for hot pit refueling and quick turn of the jets.

By 11:30 PM, two F-16Cs with drop tanks and each armed with five hundred 20 MM rounds are airborne.  Flying at 0.92 mach they will cover the 522 nautical miles directly to NAS Sigonella in 1.08 hours.  While in-route, the flight lead is informed of the tactical situation, rules of engagement, and radio frequencies to use.

The jets depart Sigonella at 1:10 AM with full fuel load and cover the 377 nautical miles directly to Benghazi in 0.8 hours, arriving at 1:50 AM which would be 20 minutes after the arrival of Woods, Doherty and their team.

Providing that the two F-16s initial pass over the mob, in full afterburner at 200 feet and 550 knots did not stop the attack in its tracks, a few well placed strafing runs on targets of opportunity would
assuredly do the trick.

Were the F-16s fuel state insufficient to return to Sigonelli after jettisoning their external drop tanks, they could easily do so at Tripoli International Airport , only one-half hour away.

As for those hand-wringing naysayers who would worry about IFR clearances, border crossing authority, collateral damage, landing rights, political correctness and dozens of other reasons not to act — screw them. It is time our “leadership” get its priorities straight and put America ‘s interests first.

The end result would be that Woods and Doherty would be alive. Dozens in the attacking rabble would be rendezvousing with “72 virgins” and a clear message would have been sent to the next worthless P.O.S. terrorist contemplating an attack on Americans that it is not really a good idea to “tug” on Superman’s cape.

Of course all this depends upon a Commander In Chief more concerned with saving the lives of those he put in harm’s way than getting his crew rested for a campaign fund raising event in Las Vegas the next day. It also depends upon a Secretary of State who actually understood “What difference did it make?”, and a Secretary of Defense who was watching the feed from the drone and understood what the attack consisted of instead of making an immediate response that “One of the military tenants is that you don’t commit assets until you fully understand the tactical situation.”

YGBSM! ( You Gotta Be Chittin’ Me)

Ultimately it comes down to the question of who gave that order to stand down? Whoever that coward turns out to be should be exposed, removed from office, and face criminal charges for dereliction of duty.

The combat forces of the United States of America deserve leadership that really does “have their back” when the chips are down.

Jun 15 2014

Is Obama Supporting the ISIS?


Some of this information is from the Council of Conservative Citizens

The US government once offered a reward of “up to $10 million” for the capture of al-Quida leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadishortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was eventually captured in 2005 and interned at Camp Bucca, which was a detention facility maintained by the United States Military in the vicinity of Qasr, Iraq.

After Obama took office and started pulling all the troops out of Iraq he was released in 2009; as he was released, the man who would go on to head the powerful ISIS group issued a menacing warning to his former captors.

‘I’ll see you guys in New York,’ Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reportedly told U.S. Army reservists from Long Island who had been guarding him at Camp Bucca near the Kuwaiti border.

Army Colonel Kenneth King, who was the commanding officer of the U.S. forces’ largest detention facility in Iraq in 2009 was one of the people who heard al-Baghdadi’s parting words, but he did not take them as a threat at the time.

Not that there is any known connection but trouble started in Libya in August 2009 and by October 2011 Gaddafi was dead and the revolution leaders were in power. As the situation in Libya wound down the Syrian civil war was starting up after protests began there on January 28, 2011.

Barack Obama and his minions have had their hands in all these situations and have been providing money and support to Sunni Jihadists in Syria, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was based. This money and arms transfer was a major part of the Bengali situation as weapons were moved from Libya to Syria apparently through Turkey.

Therefore, many of the Sunni Jihadists now fighting with the ISIS have directly benefited from US money and arms.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is also believed to be the mastermind behind a series of large scale jail breaks in Iraq that have freed about 2,000 Jihadists over the past year.

His present army stretches from The middle of northern Syria to northern and central Iraq. The core of his army is made up of former FSA Jihadists that received money and weapons from the USA, freed Iraqi veteran Jihadists, and Sunni militias that are now flocking to join him.

Jun 14 2014

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)


Chaos in the Middle East 

There is little doubt that this administration has make a total mess of the Middle East so in no particular order we have: the Obama apology tour starting in Cairo, to doing nothing about nukes in Iran, to the Red Line in the civil war in Syria, to the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt, to the Arab Spring, to Libya and Bengasi to relations with Israel, to no Status of Forces agreement with Iraq, to the present situation ISIS in Iraq. All this shows is that there is no one in the administration that has a clue about the Muslim’s their religion (Sunnism and Shiism) and their devote followers which we call Islamic radicals also know by names like The Muslim Brotherhood, The Taliban, al Qaida and now ISIS.

Since I was a Green Beret officer and I had to study the principle of warfare, as it really exists not as the Politian’s think it is, and certainly not what is practiced today, so one of the first things was to read Sun Tzu’s The Art of war; and one of the first principles is to “Know the enemy,” which the present day American leaders do not know. The bottom line is that if you are a Muslim than you are obligated to conduct Jihad against all who are not part their Islamic faith which is the only possible faith there is and all must eventually submit to Islam. Those like Osama bin Laden were and are devote Muslim’s doing what their religion mandates that they do. And their hatred for America is real since America goes against everything that they believe in and since we were the world’s only super power, until recently, we were their focus.

We are fortunate that the Muslims have two sects Sunni 75/80% (light green chart below) and Shea 25/20% (dark green chart below) in very round numbers as there are other minority versions. The split goes back to the period just after the death of Mohammad in 632 AD over the succession i.e. who was the rightful successor to Mohammad, and has never been resolved. But no matter as each of these sects wants to establish a Global Caliphate which basically means a single government where the Islamic faith and all political rules are conducted under the principles of Sharia law so it’s a theocracy. This is the complete merger of religion and daily life where all live in an absolutely controlled environment where every aspect of daily life is conducted under the terms of Sharia law. How that is to occur is part of the reason for the split in the Islamic faith and that keeps them preoccupied which is good for the rest of us.

mid-east-religion

Back in the day after WW II the Muslim Brotherhood was gaining power and developed a strategy for world conquest. There were two aspect to their plan the political and the military and both were conducted simultaneously with the Brotherhood moving into Europe and America through immigration and once here infiltrating into the political system in the guise of helping the rest of us to understand them since they had different beliefs. The other side the military was al-Qaida with bin Laden as one of the main leaders. Both of these movements had the same goal which was the conversion of Western civilization to Islam. The military side al-Qaida conducted the physical Jihad war. The political side, The Brotherhood was doing this though internal means which is called Civilization Jihad. The brotherhood created The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and was successful in getting into the American political system and after 9-11 were able to convince the American leadership that they ISNA could help us to understand Islam and that if we did so the problem would go away.

In essence the political arm of al-Qaida was telling the Politian’s here how to conduct the war against terror. Since dying while conducting Jihad guarantees one a place in heaven those that America killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were only collateral damage to them and so it was acceptable to those infiltration our political system, however that is not the subject here; the important point is that the brotherhood and al-Qaida are Sunni that is why most of America’s help has been to those areas which are dominated by the Sunni.

Obviously there is more to this then what is in these first few paragraphs but this is a blog not a history class and that leads us to the current situation. For the most part the Middle East was ruled by strong dictators such as Hosni Mubarak, Bashar al-Assad, Sadam Husain and Muammar al-Gaddafi and they kept a lid on the fundamentalist’s religious factions that wanted the Caliphate brought back after it ended in 1923 with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire; interestingly the ISIS is targeting many of the countries from the Ottoman Empire so it’s possible that Turkey is somehow involved in this as well as they were the main seat of power for the Ottomans and they are mostly Sunni.

OttomanEmpireIn1683

Which now takes us to what we have going on in Iraq with the ISIS sweep out of Syria and taking over large parts of Iraq, so far mostly Sunni areas. But as they get closer to Baghdad the Iranians who are Shea will be likely be drawn in to protect their religious brothers. This situation is totally out of control and it’s a direct result of this administration and their push for the Arab Spring of liberation. And since we have and are pulling out of the region there will be a continuing conflict until one side or the other dominates and stabilizes the situation. The Pakistani’s are a wild card here as they are primarily Sunni and they have the atom bomb.

Because of the Brotherhoods influence in the American Government we will be drawn into this building conflict on the Sunni side in their battle against the Shea which is Iran. Iran will be forced to retaliate on religious grounds as well as the overall goal of eliminating America as a threat to them. This is extremely dangerous as a containment strategy such as Mutual Assured Destruct (MAD) as was used against the old USSR will not work here as they would have no problem allowing for the Destruction of say Tehran if it also meant America was taken out by a nuke on Washington DC and New York City for example.

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION AND THERE IS NO ONE OF ANY COMPETENCE OCCUPYING THE WHITE HOUSE!

Jun 13 2014

ISIS Threatens to Invade Jordan and ‘..Slaughter King Abdullah..’