Congress, ethics and accountability... can we start now?

Apparently we now have individuals coming out of the woodwork to talk about the activities of Mr. Foley as far back as 1997. The absolute and only positive way to get IMs from AOL at that point was to be ON AOL. The internal, private networks of AOL, CompuServe, and Prodigy all had that feature and it was a closed-community sort of deal... no internet chat and, in fact, getting onto the internet for email was a pretty large affair for all of those companies. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) had been widely available before then, but *not* supported via any of the private network companies like AOL. That was in a state of flux, way back when, so pinning down precise dates for precise actions may be difficult. Now, while I have had some question of why Mr. Foley would use MAF54, I always assumed it was a screen-name conflict with someone *else* on AOL. Using one's initials and then last two numbers of birth year was and *is* a common screen-name proviso for AOL.... and if Mr. Foley was *that* savvy to be signed up to AOL and then get that simple screen name, then, yes, I can see it....

AOL at that period in time was *quite* strict on complaints and a couple of those could get you TOS'd: having one's account terminated for violation of the Terms Of Service agreement. And some folks just loved doing that to others on AOL for various reasons. And one had *no* recourse with a private company doing this, so you were SOL if this happened. So, if this individual was on AOL and did not like what Mr. Foley was *doing* it was pretty simple to get that addressed by sending in TOS violation reports. A few of those and Mr. Foley would be out of luck.

Now as to how Mr. Foley learned of someone's email account: a look-up search within AOL was available, if memory serves. If one were insane enough to put their *real* name down, then you could easily be found by anyone looking you up. If you went under a nickname you enjoyed and someone looked *that* up, you could be found, which is a form of social privacy on the anonymity via closed social circle concept. Also note that this was susceptible to 'a friend of a friend' passing it along to other individuals if they *knew* you were on AOL.

Now, here is the fun part: Tyson Vivian at age 16 would have to supply a credit card or bank account to get INTO AOL or use it under a parent's account. Thus, the entire control of his activities was while as a minor under the supervision of his parents. That did happen in those days as well as folks lying about their age, gender, sexual inclinations and so on in BOTH directions. Getting sexually explicit IMs out of the blue was *not* uncommon unless one shut their IM *off*. Also note that one of the vagaries of the law was and *is* the Age of Consent for engaging in sexual activities: it varies greatly from State to State with North Carolina, I believe it was, only raising it from *12* to 16 in the modern era (done from memory only).

So, while such propositions is reprehensible and one would *still* need to get parental advice, the legality of such things was and remains unclear. Violations of one localized State Law may *not* be enforceable if such originates in a State that allows such things. DC, itself, is horrendously lax in this area and, as its laws are overseen by Congress, reflects on the whimsy of that body. And actual *point* of interaction for Law Enforcement remains totally muddy on the internet because the network runs on the shared-switch broadband system which can route a message through, literally, the shortest timed route available which has little to do with geography and much to do with network load and available routes between points. Thus, here again, *where* the network based transaction actually takes place is thoroughly in question. Is it on one of the individual's computers? Or both of them? And if it is illegal on one is it illegal on both? Is it where the messages are routed through via a server? What happens when those messages go out of the Nation and re-enter via a Foreign route and are thus anonymized?

These are not questions that have been answered easily as seen when the Yahoo! based auction of Nazi memorabilia was stopped because FRANCE did not like that. Google has caved to Red China's threats and wishes to be a presence there... even though the network had previously routed around all of the Red Chinese blocks on messages to Google. How do pictures from cell phones play into this when they, too, can be routed literally out of the atmosphere via a foreign satellite and then re-enter the geospace of the US? The Congress is trying to stop internet gambling, but it is perfectly allowable in many Nations to have such gambling and trying to *stop* such activities requires a huge amount of surveillance that goes quite beyond what the Founding Father's saw as necessary restrictions to free speech.

I do not like Mr. Foley's actions.

They are morally difficult to measure, however, due to all of the above problems. Pinning down exactly *what* is wrong, *when* it was wrong and *where* it was wrong are extreme difficulties TO THIS DAY. Which is why I do my best not to worry about morals but about ETHICS: personal behavior and activities.

Legislating morals is damn difficult to do, and I will only cite pornography on that. It is actually something you want to do where there is hard and fast harm done to an individual. That is about it. Trying to enforce the Blue Laws of a previous era was unconstitutional as it forced a religious viewpoint on commerce which was contrary to Amendment I. In the case of sexual predators on the internet you can only get a *case* if they try to arrange a meeting to *act out* their speech: the speech, itself, is PROTECTED no matter how much you dislike it.

The Republic of the United States judges people by their ACTIONS, not their SPEECH.

That is why I hate, most deservedly, those wanting to water-down the language with PC-ness and blandness and *giving no offense to anyone* and 'hate speech' laws. That last is unconstitutional in the EXTREME. Hateful speech is perfectly ALLOWABLE by the Constitution and PROTECTED by it. And, believe it or not, so is sexual chatter via IMs and emails. The responsibility to get those addressed when someone is talking with a minor is to complain to the network service provider, then to block said account from IM and talk to the child about these things. In other words: to have a responsible adult, even if it is a mere court-appointed guardian, STOP IT, until the child is 18.

The attempt of the Left to use this for its own purposes for hateful reasons is running them afoul of their own 'hate speech' codes. They are using hateful speech to harm an individual and doing so wantonly and knowingly with harmful intentions and doing actual harm by ACTING OUT upon those intentions. That should be despicable to them as the speech that they are impugning... but just somehow isn't. But then that is what we have come to expect from the Left: laws for THEE but not for ME.

So, my stance is this: I deplore Mr. Foley's activities as they would demonstrate a lack of adult thinking and prudence on his part. I doubt, most heavily, that they are or were *illegal*. This is why a House Ethics Committee Hearing on this should have been convened whenever the FIRST CONGRESSMAN KNEW ABOUT IT! Democrat or Republican they have a Duty to their Office that supersedes ALL mere political positions. And if this was NOT brought to light by a Congressman contacted in 1997, then THAT individual should *also* be under investigation. In point of fact, any Congressman who *knew* about this sort of thing that did NOT report it as an Ethics violation should BE investigated for THAT Ethics violation.

I do not give a hot damn about their Party affiliation: any Congressman or staff that knew this was going on has a Duty, sworn Oath to the Republic DUTY, to report it. Anyone who has sworn an Oath while serving in Congress or serving Congress during that entire period who knows about such things MUST report it. Congress agrees to look after its own internal rules and regulations and *not* doing so is a violation of that agreement and worthy of investigation. Congress does not *prosecute* these things, but does have means and manner to strip individuals of prestige and even REFUSE TO SEAT THEM in the House.

So, to those who want this thing busted open: so do I.

For ALL of the House of Representatives and the Senate, their staff, their committees and anyone sworn in to serve them. For those individuals are NOT serving their Representatives by that Oath, they are serving We the People.

So, perhaps now the Ethics Committees in both Houses can start to call in every member, every staffer and every page and every functionary to learn just what they knew and when they knew it... and... by the by... report on ALL the 'dirty little secrets' of Ethical questionability that they have heard about going on or know about first-hand.

Democrats and Republicans and Independents.

All of them.

Sounds like the PERFECT time to start.

Time for the 'Nuclear Neighborhood' option

From Austin Bay comes this look that North Korea is planning to detonate a nuclear device. The signs are, indeed, ones that are pointing to that along with an increasing intransigence on the part of North Korea to be amenable to any other option. What we are seeing here ia a lack of an actual Foreign Policy by the United States to do *anything* save talk. I have previously looked at this lack of Foreign Policy, and then gave forth a way to let China know that it is responsible for the fate of North Korea and that region of the world if it does *nothing*:

1) North Korea - China saved North Korea from destruction during the Korean War and should be held accountable for that activity. As they supply the bulk of ALL North Korean food and goods, China is a key to ending the threats from North Korea. To that end, China should be told that they OWN this problem on the 'You wanted them then, they are Yours now', concept. Further, China should be told that if they do *nothing* then the US will seek to encourage its Friends and Allies in the region to arm themselves with advanced attack and defense capabilities. These Nations would include: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. If China further refuses to deal with North Korea's proliferation and threats problems, then China shall be de-listed for US trade and Taiwan added for full and FREE TRADE to exclude all of Red China's products and companies. China can pay a 10% entry to market tariff for selling in the US. North Korea is NOT the problem of the US and we do NOT appreciate being dragged into this abdication of responsibility amongst Communist regimes. You wanted that sorry place, now You clean it up.

This is the traditional stance of US Foreign Policy which is to help Friends and Allies to meet challenges that are greater than what they can address. That simple concept of helping Friends and Allies to *strengthen* them and to let those that wish to be neither friend or ally to pay their way, is one that is the Foreign Policy of the Jacksonian Party. Not only my *personal* Foreign Policy outlook, but one that uses the scale-free concepts of friendship and worth of self in being worth *having* as a friend. China, neither being friend nor ally of the US should be paying a price and shouldering this burden on its lonesome. If it *asks* for help, then that request can be considered, but the bulk of the responsibility MUST full upon China, and NOT the United States. North Korea is *not* Our Problem as a Nation.

The fact that North Korea gaining nuclear weapons capability that threatens Our Friends and Allies *is* our problem and when the party responsible for letting North Korea survive and become a threat does *not* take up its responsibilities, the US must then empower its Friends and Allies to defend themselves with Our help and assistance. In this case it requires building the 'Nuclear Neighborhood' of those threatened by North Korea's missile reach.

The United States can encourage our Friends and Allies to seek, with or without our help, to find counters to this nuclear threat either via defense systems, which we are researching, or via 'nuclear counterweight' and building their OWN arsenals of nuclear devices. China is, apparently, aghast at the idea of Japan going nuclear as it is already fielding its first Aegis Destroyer, has ICBM capability via its rocketry program and, in general, is a world class manufacturing center that can out produce all of China and North Korea in this area in a matter of a year or so.

It is, indeed, time to up that ante with South Korea and Taiwan given tacit agreement and support to do the same. Taiwan, in particular, should be given special recognition as a long-standing Friend and Ally of the United States that has been extremely responsible in its activities with regards to Red China. South Korea is another of the Asian Tiger economies and they, too, can quickly develop and field an entire nuclear arsenal in a few years. So can Taiwan.

Each of these Nations is seen as NO THREAT to further proliferation as they understand what it means to be a responsible Nation in this world, unlike North Korea and, in abdicating its responsibilities, China.

I do not mind seeing *responsible* non-Imperial Nations getting Nuclear Weapons for self-defense. I do mind, quite some bit, rogue regimes and those Nations built on local and global hegemony doing so. If China is unwilling to enforce the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in its own backyard with a Nation that it must *support* directly via transiting supplies to it, then it must be seen in breach of not only that Treaty, but as a threat to the entire region by not acting responsibly. China, by not enforcing this and acting responsibly has seen nuclear technology spread and then take foothold in India and Pakistan. Already hemmed in the north by Russia, China is now helping Iran to develop nuclear capability and will soon have that on their Western side to worry about beyond merely Pakistan. So it is time to turn up the heat and let it face an entire ring of Nuclear Armed Nations. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is effectively dead due to the AQ Khan network and North Korea doing separate development of the same technology. The Khan material shows just *how* to get nuclear devices made and now North Korea can start making and marketing them.

With the detonation of a Nuclear bomb by North Korea, the next thing that the United States should do is go forward with a 'Nuclear Neighborhood' plan for Our Friends and Allies being threatened by this development.

It is Just.

It is Fair.

And it is necessary to protect those that have been stalwart Allies to us for decades.

And let China stew in the juices of its Mighty Red Army that is impotent to protect the Nation by ending the North Korean threat.

Putting the Toxic Memes of Jay Garner to Rest

Bob Woodward in his book, State of Denial, looks at the early post-OIF work by Jay Garner and comes up with these following three things that Mr. Garner said were going 'wrong' when he was replaced as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority on May 11, 2003 and criticized his replacement L. Paul Bremer for doing:

1) First the order of Mr. Bremer banning the Ba'ath party bureaucrats from running the Government.

2) Disbanding the Iraqi Military.

3) Dismissing the Iraqi Leadership that had been 'eager' to help run the country so as to give it an 'Iraqi face'.

Lets look at this in reverse order: An Iraqi Interim Governing Council was set up on 23 SEP 2003 to give Iraqis a direct role in participating in the decisions to rebuild their Nation. This criticism, however, is *not* aimed at that but at putting in place the concept that was thought about before the fighting began of putting Ahmed Chalabi in charge of some sort of 'Iraqi Government returning from Exile' sort of deal. Mr. Chalabi had been a prime source of information on Iraq to the CIA and DoD and much of what he had put forth was coming out to be *wrong*. In point of fact he was beginning to be viewed with suspicion as a self-seeking and self-promoting individual that would be more than happy to do just about anything to get into a high status position. This small group of individuals would *not* have been seen as 'Iraqis coming home to lead a new government' but individuals who had fled the country for many reasons and did *not* understand the depth of ills that had been set upon them by Saddam Hussein.

By 2004 he had been revealed as the source of much of the information given by "Curveball" that had proven to be untrue or so deeply misleading as to be inaccurate. Mr. Chalabi had *also* taken part in the Oil For Food program and was implicated in its various scandals. In may of 2004 he was brought up on currency fraud charges in Iraq. This is the man that Mr. Garner wanted to have in charge right after hostilities ended, but could get no traction on because of his misrepresentations to the US Government. He was seen as damn lucky to get a place on the Interim Council and has since proven to be a politician willing to cozy up to anyone to gain credibility, fame and power.

For this there are two memes supported and pushed by the Leftists one after the Viet Nam war and the other in Iraq that come into direct dissonance mentally. These two memes are in direct and stark contrast between 'outlook' and 'action', between vituperation against the United States and then NOT supporting the United States when it acts in accordance with these two memes. If you are a believer in EITHER of these memes and then use the Jay Garner defense of not 'putting an Iraqi face' on the government, then you should see a mental health professional if you even so much as BEGIN to criticize the United States for its actual 'actions'.

Meme 1 is the oft-repeated refrain heard during the Cold War that instead of fighting Communism the US should have been fighting the petty dictators that were allies of the US. Mind you they at least supported the concept of freedom and liberty in verbiage, but those less than stellar allies were used as a criticism against the US.

So, when the US actually decides NOT to put an individual who is power seeking, self-serving and has all the hallmarks of wanting to be an autocrat and overrules putting such an individual into a position of power in a Nation, the one thing that anyone holding to Meme 1 cannot do is CRITICIZE that decision. The United States has taken those criticisms to heart and now supports liberty, freedom and democracy and REFUSES to put dictatorial 'sock puppets' in charge of Nations. You can criticize the US for many things if you hold to this Meme 1, but the one thing that you cannot ethically do is criticize *not* putting a 'sock puppet' in charge of Iraq or Afghanistan.

Meme 2 is that the CIA work on the lead-up to OIF was wrong. Badly skewed. Awful. To be condemned in its lack of having people on the ground to do HUMINT. And the source of all of that, which WOULD have been known to the President when time to appoint some sort of provisional government came around for post-war Iraq, was NOT put in charge of the Nation of Iraq because he was seen as UNRELIABLE. If you have vehement vituperation on the poor INTEL leading up to Iraq, then you CANNOT countenance wanting to put a PRIME SOURCE of that INTEL in *charge* of Iraq. That would be compounding a bad situation and making it worse.

Mr. Garner is dead-wrong on putting an immediate 'Iraqi face' on the interim government right after hostilities were basically over on a military to military scale. The individuals to choose from had been badly compromised and would have made matters worse by turning the interim government into one of cronies, lackies and individuals who would kowtow to them.

The other two things are actually very much part and parcel of the same phenomena. Mind you, that by the time that Mr. Garner was taken out of a position of control that he had 2.5 months to actually get these things STARTED. Complaining about them a full MONTH after being removed is sour grapes at best and absolute misdirection at worse. When in control he did NOTHING to get these two things going. Mr. Woodward somehow misses that nicety.

The actual war planning for post-war Iraq must have envisioned something like the orderly stand-down of the Iraqi military and government as had been seen in every large State to State conflict in which one State is defeated wholly and absolutely on a military level. This did NOT happen. Saddam Hussein hoped to 'live another day' and 'fight on' from holes in the ground and lead a 'victorious insurgence' with the backing of... well, the backing of his money for the most part. Unlike Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein did *not* survive defeat. Neither the military nor the government survived it.

On the military side there is one thing not mentioned *anywhere* in the timeline of OIF: the orderly surrender of the Iraqi Army and Government.

Perhaps this is just a 'mere oversight' or 'so small as not to be worth mentioning' in ANY OF THE HISTORIES written about OIF to date. Not a single historical account points to any leader of the Iraqi Army actually able to remain in control of cohesive units and *surrender* them. What was seen, instead, was that Iraqis were quickly shedding their uniforms and running *away* from battles in their underwear and sandals. Some had forethought to bring an overshirt, jeans and sneakers with them, but there are more than some few reports of empty Iraqi uniforms found next to tanks, along roadsides and off-road in the desert. The much vaunted Republican Guard got their sole attempt at forming a counter-attack destroyed by two 'miracle weapons': CBU-97. In under 5 minutes approximately one-third of their vehicles and some of the actual train rolling stock had been destroyed by two of these munitions and their sub-munitions packages. From all reports of the light Marine detachment that was preparing to fight a damn hard struggle of light infantry against an armored foray, they watched in stunned disbelief as the Iraq formation was SHREDDED by two of these bombs. There were so many vehicular hulks on the road and off it that they could not make any way forward until engineers could get there to move them. The Iraq Republican Guard unit *disintegrated*. They lost integrity as a UNIT and fled as individuals hard and fast from the scene leaving their INTACT vehicles behind them because they did not want to fight for 10 MORE MINUTES against a force that could do THAT to them.

The wonderful looking streetfighter T-72 tanks of Saddam Hussein had proven to be deathtraps. Gun camera footage of 'clever' tank commanders hiding their tanks UNDER bridges so that they could not be bombed came in for a rude surprise. They had thought that anything that could take their tank out would *also* destroy the bridge abutments they were directly pressed against. That was very clever of them! They could not be attacked from above without destroying the bridge! They could not be attacked from the side because the explosives necessary to take them out would take out the bridge! It was extremely clever of them! They had not counted on the United States using UK idea and fitted with JDAM capability. What was done was to take BDU-50 500 lb 'training' bombs made of concrete and vermiculite, and fit them with a JDAM package and then drop it from 15,000 feet or so. Those were guided right *under* the bridge and hit the tank with destructive force that demolished the tank. We threw rocks at them from a high places. The tanks were *destroyed* and the bridge remained unharmed.

These lovely terrorists and insurgents have not *learned* this lesson of the training bombs. We had started using them in Iraq in 1999 to great effect. They were used to 'crater' bridges in SEP 2005 that al Qaeda was using to move supplies over: the actual bridge span was left intact, but the road surface suddenly had huge holes in it. The F-22 has tested this and has been able to make trucks bounce with direct hits upon them. Somehow the 'shock and awe' of being able to do 'impossible things' like taking out ONLY the vehicles in an armored column or throw rocks under bridges to destroy armored vehicles caused individuals to FLEE from the Iraqi Army. The fact that when they stood up *anywhere* to fight toe-to-toe with the US Armed Forces that they were so badly hit that their unit morale failed led to a total and absolute dissolution of the Iraqi Army. They had met an enemy that did not *fight* like anything they had been taught about. They had experienced the 'Highway of Death' in 1991 and tried to make different plans against OIF. Saddam Hussein had actually not *believed* his bought and paid for agent in Russia and thought that the US would be unable to get its bearings and stage an attack any time soon and would depend upon insurgents to fight him. Even if they had tried to prepare to fight the US properly, they would have been destroyed.

So let us dispose of this bit of wisdom from Jay Garner once and for good and all: to get the Old Iraqi Army *back* it would have to be rounded up, retrained, re-equipped, re-supplied, re-fitted and its ranks 'cleansed' of the worst thugs, killers and murderers. Once that was done the HATED and UNTRUSTED Iraqi Army would then be seen with suspicion by Iraqis. The Old Iraqi Army, not used to actually keeping the peace beyond the use of terror and torture and murder would *not* have helped the situation. It would be seen as re-installing the exact same problem ALL OVER AGAIN. The United States would be seen as installing a thug-based army to do its dirty work. And we would need far more many 'boots on the ground' to KEEP that Old Iraqi Army in-line because no one, and I do mean NO ONE would TRUST THEM.

So even if 6 or 8 months were spent to do this, you would then have spent all that time putting something in-place that would need close supervision, much watching and, in the mean-time, find enough personnel to train the NEW Iraqi Army. You would not need the 380,000 boots on the ground that was quoted before OIF. You would need nearly double that just to properly train and supervise a hated, feared and mistrusted military that would then start to work on undermining *anything* that was not to their benefit. And at the EXACT SAME TIME a New Iraqi Army totally divorced from the Old one would need to be formed up.

Mr. Garner is welcome to his own opinions, but the facts were that there was NO Iraqi Army left to USE after the he was installed to help transition things. It was gone not only as a fighting force but as a concept. Trying to get any units back was actually *tried* in Falluja and FAILED miserably as those troops lacked morale, lacked training and returned to their thug-like ways. They were disbanded and so was this idea. It was a USELESS idea then and supporting it now is arguing against the 'facts on the ground' as Mr. Rumsfeld so aptly put it. It would have been a waste of time, a waste of resources, a HUGE false-start that would be to no good end and would be doing something that the folks supporting Meme 1 on the Left would then decry as 'just installing another sock puppet' to take over.

This exact same thing happened to the Ba'athist Government: the people who were in the Iraqi Government were thugs, petty politicians with greedy hands and had the capability to ruin *anyone* they did not like. They did NOT stick at their work when Saddam fled because they knew that to do so would have caused riots around their offices and endangered them *personally*. When the Iraqi Army disintegrated and the US Armed Forces came into Baghdad the Government itself disintegrated. People not only did *not* go back to work, they fled the city and headed to their homes and often to their original tribal groups in the Western provinces.

They were almost totally a Sunni derived Arab government that had caused no love to be gained between them and the Shia majority and the Kurdish minority to the North while they were in charge of things. The Kurds started pressing down from the North and relocating from their *forced relocation* under Saddam to reclaim their homes and lives. The Iraqi Government disappeared in a literal sense overnight. One day it was there, the next it was not. Everyone actually *believed* 'Baghdad Bob' and that any reports of US forces near Baghdad was the 'truth'... all the way to the point they heard and saw US Tanks and Armored Vehicles and soldiers going through the neighborhoods of Baghdad. The Government collapsed within a short period of time after that and the US Armed Forces were still mopping up the still disintegrating Old Iraqi Army. Once the tissues of lies and fabrications and denials were exposed, those in the Government understood that if they *stayed at work* they would be killed by the People of Iraq.

The Old Iraqi Army took a few more days to fully disintegrate and in that time the entirety of the Iraqi Government decamped and headed for home and hopes for some safety as they knew that the Shia would look to take power. There was no way to stop this. No announcement could be made to plead for people to come back to work: they were all seen as corrupt, as agents of Saddam, as oppressors. They had NO work ethic to keep civil society running. It was 'every man for himself and devil take the hindmost'. If Mr. Garner thought it was such a good idea to bring them back, he would then have to supply the tens of thousands of trained Iraqi police officers to do so. Those, being part of the government and military, likewise fled. There was no civil order to keep as there was no Government, no Army, no Police force.

Every critic of OIF and its aftermath said that there were 'not enough boots on the ground'. Here is the problem: we had expected there to be *some* order, somewhere outside of the Kurdish regions in the North and an orderly stand-down of the Iraqi Army once it was defeated. The entire predication of the immediate post-war conflict was to do the exact same things that Jay Garner points to: use the remaining Government, Police and Military to hold things together. Mr. Garner had TWO MONTHS to find them. He did NOT find them. When Mr. Bremer came in and took over then in JUN 2003 he disbanded the Iraqi Army and Government as a *formality*: they had both ceased to exist some months prior to then and *any* wishing for them to come back was insanity.

And since 2003 every critic has had *ample* opportunity to point directly to those Iraqi Army units that could have taken over, those Government officials that had remained at their jobs, those Iraqi Police that had kept up patrol work and not fled. And not in handfuls, but in tens of thousands, please. Point them out and the worthy command structure over them that could actually *control* them. These things are *necessary* to the ORIGINAL plans in which no organization, no Government Agency had predicted the complete and utter collapse of the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Regime, the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi Police. The CIA did NOT predict that. DoD did NOT predict that. State Department under Colin Powell did NOT predict that.

They all pointed to some insurgency problems, but those would be *fringe* problems around the core of Iraqi civilization: the remnants of the old regime would be used to bolster things then a transition made and full de-Ba'athification done for the New Government. Instead the Ba'ath party self-de-Ba'athified Iraq for us! There would be religious and sectarian problems, but nothing that an orderly governmental transition could not handle.

And to those military critics of the 'lack of a plan' who had left just before or soon after this: you were the ones that were to PUT SUCH PLANS TOGETHER. In not trying to figure out how the US now fought wars, in condemning the modernization programs and not understanding what transforming the military actually DID to military operations, it was YOU who failed in creating contingency plans for 'catastrophic success'. Sour grapes about transformation make very poor whine about NOT DOING YOUR JOB.

Mr. Woodward is building upon quicksand and basing his criticisms starting at Jay Garner rests the foundations of all later analysis on ground that is not THERE. He may accurately report the facts of what was said, but the resulting analysis is faulty for not taking a look at this thing known as 'the real world' and seeing how events were playing out and how people like Jay Garner were performing CYA. It was misguided and self-serving THEN and it remains so until this day. I suggest that Mr. Woodward start learning about the military, the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and stop relying on cozy sources, 'secret documents', anonymous tipsters, bureaucrats performing CYA manuevers, and folks that have a deep agenda to make themselves look good at the expense of the Nation.

Transforming Warfare and Warfare Transformed

Many have seen Bob Woodward's book about the great mis-steps taken by the Bush Administration and its dangerous shake-up of the Pentagon. Indeed, the number of officers who had been betting on the incremental next-gen of weapons found themselves out in the cold when President Bush decided to start an overhaul of the entire Armed Forces system of analyzing weapons, integrating them, testing them and procuring them. That cycle was once measured in something close to a decade as witness the F-14 or F-117 procurement cycle starting in the 1960's and not fully becoming fielded until the late 1970's or early 1980's. Unfortunately the microcomputer revolution was changing how good weapons could be and what integrating them into a weapon delivery platform meant. The increase of stealth technology, from using basic geometry to radar absorbing and sonar absorbing coatings meant that the 'old style' of Total War was being revolutionized and replaced.

By the early 1990's, while civilian life was becoming transformed by the much reduced cost of computing which was pushing *down* into lives to make things simpler, faster and cheaper, the Armed Forces were still dealing with a Cold War era model of fighting that was not anywhere near in touch with Moore's Law. That had to change and drastically as civilians were becoming much, much more productive per given hour and their military counterparts were *not*. Even a moderately backwards Nation could, if it wanted to, put money and time into defeating 1980-era systems and leave the US Armed Forces vulnerable. And that was in the early 1990's before the Internet Age. And that conception of cross-integrating capabilities *down* to individuals was something that no other Nation on the planet would trust their Armed Forces to do: it would make them, per man, extremely effective. Extremely deadly. Luckily the United States *trusts* its military and that is *exactly* what is wanted: a lean, deadly fighting force with low logistics overhead for supply and cross-integrated capability to flex across the entire sphere of battle from Grand Strategy to hunting individuals.

This was anathema to the old procurement system of the Pentagon. Careers had been invested in specifying every little bit that needed to be done, ensuring it was done, making sure the original design worked and then putting it on a multi-decade lifecycle of sustainment. But it was not the pointy-end of the military that would be transformed *first* it was the LOGISTICS side that would revolutionize warfare. The Defense Logistic Agency took point on that as it is the supply and delivery arm of the entire Armed Forces. What it did was create a complete and automated tracking and delivery system so that the materials that were needed would meet timely deadlines and get to their destination on the most efficient route given that timeline or inform those doing the ordering of necessary shipping and/or stockage delays. To do this DLA centralized its storage depots, put them under private contractors and instituted a 'best of breed' system for its delivery. That system is modeled on FedEx and UPS. The one important thing that we have *not* heard since the start of the conflicts in the Middle East are delivery problems. In every modern and pre-modern war the problem of actually getting the right supplies to the right troops at the right time has resulted in things like cases of toilet paper showing up instead of ammunition and food rotting on docks as trucking was not well integrated into supply systems. The only notable problem, to date, has been in HUMVEE armor and *that* is due to the manufacturing limitations of the company and arsenal involved. For the first time in recorded history in a non-losing situation, an entire suite of Armed Forces, top to bottom, gets what it needs when it needs it. And because of the highly mobile operational needs of the modern military one of the things that *did* need a good supply chain was the unexpected: batteries.

For that *alone* the entire military deployment and use system needed to be examined as all military vessels and delivery systems were predicated on pre-'just-in-time' sustainment. This new 'backbone' of the US Armed Forces now allowed for a revolutionary and deep restructuring not only of the military but its doctrine on how to fight battles. No longer would the long logistics train need the sort of attention it had previously required to ensure that supplies were transiting through it. That said, what was *not* planned for was actually defending this 'on-the-move' logistics supply train. The #1 greatest fault of OIF was not addressing getting this continuous supply-chain into the field and defending it properly. The old 'huge convoy' concept needed to be changed and drastically. Patently that was *not* done by the mid-tier management of the Pentagon. The people whoe *did* do this were those actually in the field and they used the next great asset of the modern Armed Forces: global communications. And the folks to do this would be TRANSCOM.

US Armed Forces Transportation Command is the vital link to getting all the necessary supplies to the field in a timely fashion. Doesn't do much good for the stuff to be delivered by the DLA to a TRANSCOM depot and sit there! And so they stood up to the problem and started training and re-training their people continuously. In 2003 this was seen as so vital that they had to set up an R&D segment to address new and evolving capabilities. They are looking at an entire integrated and secure method of moving cargo via multiple means and methods to get those wonderful DLA supplies to where they have to go. This is above and beyond anything ever envisioned in the 1990's. It will most likely be heavily automated. But to get the heavy training load done initially for delivery of goods, the in-theater logistics units used those new global links to contact the one organization that could do the necessary hard lifting to help: US Marine Corps 29 Palms training units. The heavy byplay between combat and training units meant that daily briefs were passed to training elements to analyze types of enemy attacks upon shipping and then play out possible defense methods against them. Those lessons learned were then sent *back* to the field and they analyzed and integrated insights and fed new reports on success/failure to 29 Palms. This cycle of wash/rinse/repeat meant that overall analysis of enemy capabilities were being performed by units that were *not* INTEL units, but Training units! Their insights were then passed to the INTEL units for integration. Now we have logistics directly impacting INTEL gathering and analysis and have not even *started* on the fun new weapons yet.

Don't worry, candy is to come.

So, this is now building up a new picture of military operations in which the modernization of *one* area requires a re-alignment and modernization of areas that were, previously, unaffiliated with those other areas. Logistics now *feeds* into INTEL. Beyond just equipment use, wear and attacks, enemy ops, capabilities, tempo and restrictions are now checked, cross-checked, verified and handed off as an operational reality. One could go directly to the INTEL area and then look at databases and language expertise necessary to gather HUMINT, and the hard training that then got added *on* to all the troops rotating into Iraq. Basically, everyone gets a hard and fast set of language lessons, with officers getting more in-depth training on language, customs and how to interact with the local population. Because that not only smooths operations but it provides INTEL. Again, units in the field interact with training units and the new units get 'spun up' quickly for deployment and easier transition. Thus, unit commanders now get to serve as Military Intelligence liaison for local operations. Get the idea that this is not the Cold War military? This is warfare where Shadow Warriors and Pointy End soldiers shake hands so they can fight together.

Ok, now to some of the fun technology at the pointy-end. Blowing things up and weapons are neat stuff and the entire system to create, test and deploy new equipment is compressing and *hard*. One of the key weapons that needed to be pressed from lab to field test in a few weeks was the BLU-118 thermobaric bomb. Unlike Fuel-Air Explosives munitions, like the BLU-82 'daisy cutter', the thermobaric bomb uses a penetrating slow-exploding capability to cause a rolling overpressure blast wave into tunnel complexes. This went from test facility to operational weapon in Afghanistan in *weeks*. While the FAE bombs are relatively good at causing a sudden pressure drop under them and then putting a pressure wave down, their explosive type is not that good for cave penetration. The much lighter thermobaric bomb has GPS guidance and is specifically made to penetrate tunnel entrances and put a pressure and heated shock wave *into* a tunnel complex. And it has the lovely side-benefit of blasting air *out* of all the other escape routes so that they can be identified. About the only effective way to seal off internal cave areas is with blast doors... an expensive proposition for small units.

The only way to make a nuclear device do something similar is to get it within initial cratering zone of the bomb itself or to deep-penetrate it and shake up the entire tunnel complex turning them into 'instacrypts'. But if you want to actually *investigate* the system later, that is no good at all and the thermobaric bomb does just the trick. If you want good INTEL, then you want thermobaric bombs to take out tunnel complexes.

Source: Future Weapons, The Discovery Channel
Not the thing to wake up to in a tunnel!

Next up is something to handle armored and vehicular columns of more traditional forces. Here, again, bigger is not always better, but it was difficult to get something like cluster bombs to accurately go after armored vehicles. With a standard cluster bomb you have all sorts of nasty sub-munitions laying around waiting to go off and that is very difficult to clear. And so one man had a vision of tanks dancing from directed plasma way back in the 1980's. Of course, the Pentagon wanted nothing to do with that. So what does someone with a bright idea actually *do* when the Pentagon says NO? Why you go to your Congresscritters and get pork-barrel funding, of course! The Pentagon hated that and tried, repeatedly to kill this dream. It was derisively called the 'weapon of 1,000 miracles' because it would need that many to function in all of its Rube-Goldbergesque capabilities. Textron believed in this dream and so it came to pass, and be made: CBU-97.


Source: Future Weapons, The Discovery Channel
By all accounts it did the impossible of being dropped over a large area and attacking up to 40 targets separately. It comes in at 1,000 lbs. which makes it amenable to all sorts of aerial vehicle delivery platforms and only some basic GPS to get it over the target AREA. It is an area effect weapon and that is all it needs. The final sub-sub-munitions do the rest... the 'skeets'.

Source: Federation of American Scientistsl
This was first deployed against an armored column that Saddam was forming up as the Marines were heading towards Baghdad. It was going to be the start of his counter-attack, spearheaded by the Republican Guards. It met up with two CBU-97's and the front third of the column along with some rail rolling stock was destroyed in under 5 minutes. The Republican Guard left the hulks of their dead tanks and the entire counter-attack disappeared as morale broke, never to be seen again. The Marines had been preparing for a light infantry maneuver against armor... and could not believe what happened. A 'dumb bomb' but with very, very smart components. And the 'skeets' that do the dirty work shutdown or become non-operable if they cannot find a target. No explosive mess left behind to clean up. Truly only an American could think up such a complicated way of doing things and make it work.

But the US also makes big bombs, too! Consider the Massive Ordinance Air Burst which marries up big bomb capability with GPS to deliver a blast over an area of 9 city blocks. The designation of this is the GBU-38/B and comes in at 21,700 lbs. Like the 'daisy cutter' the MOAB is delivered by C-130 cargo jet and pushed out the back to find its way to its coordinates. But it is *not* a mere 'daisy cutter'.

Source: Globalsecurity.org
This device uses a special cocktail of explosive slurry to spread its blast effect over a wide area. It is large enough that the DoD had to check and make sure that it really was a legitimate weapon via the Law of Armed Conflict. Not to worry: IT IS. In test form it is high visibility, but no doubt its operational brothers are a dull military coloration.

Source: Globalsecurity.org
I like to think of it as the 'opium field destroyer'. Perhaps a few of those Afghani's that are supporting the Taliban via the drug trade should see their field of drugs on MOAB...

Now, many folks have complained inside and outside of the Pentagon about the death of the 'Crusader' self-propelled howitzer. It was a big and ungainly beast meant for the Cold War and the Clinton Administration asked 'what purpose would it serve that the Paladin does not?' So, thus ended many a career for pushing the Crusader to full functionality and the Paladin has received upgrades and become more of a mobile command post and first line aid station on treads, along with its other capabilities. Time, however, does not stand still and the need for something that will fit the modern force structure has yielded an automated mobile howitzer. BAE Systems has come up with the Non-Line Of Sight Cannon or NLOS-C.

Source: BAE Systems
The aim for the NLOS-C is to get it under 20 tons for transportation and 25 tons fully equipped and loaded. But there is much, much more to this weapon system. Firstly it incorporates its 155mm gun into a lightweight armored chassis that is powered by a diesel/electric hybrid system so that it can reach 55mph on regular paved surfaces, 35-40mph over rough terrain and nearly silent operation at 20mph with its electric motor. Instead of the heavy and noisy metal treads it uses a rubber composite that is durable, lightweight and easy to replace. When it is operating under electric only mode it is nearly silent on the battlefield... ask blind people about the Toyota Prius and its siblings that have this same capability and the danger they face from it in parking lots. Give it a nice dark matte camouflage and it will be effectively invisible at night, with only its small electric motor IR signature to show it up.

As a fully automated cannon it loads and unloads itself and removes any jams from the gun. Since no human interaction is required it can fire 6 rounds/minute sustained and up to 10 rounds/minute for a burst of firepower. As part of its capabilities is a multiple shell on-target simultaneous firing capability, so that it can fire 4 to 8 shells at different trajectories to all arrive within a half-second of each other.

On a normal deployment in multiples, these weapons communicate with each other and coordinate firepower so as to deliver multiple shells simultaneously from multiple guns. It also tracks each shell fired so as to make any adjustments for higher atmosphere wind speeds with follow-on rounds.

It has a pop-up defense system to fire accurately at targets and incoming rockets and rocket-propelled grenades so as to cut down on the need for armor. Individuals firing LAWs will be in for a surprise as the projectile is taken out and then rounds fired at the individual doing the firing. This may have an 'automatic' mode for incoming fire so as to cut down on the business of the workplace and let the vehicle take better care of itself.

Current configuration calls for a 3-man crew, which will operate the entire vehicle. One can expect to see future upgrades in commo and software to allow unmanned 'follow the leader' capability and, if any of the DARPA Grand Challengers comes up with a good overland route planning solution, to see a nearly autonomous capability for these weapons. This has already led to some semi-autonomous ground vehicles and more will be in the pipeline to help augment and supplement the warfighter.

The USAF already has such in its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and is seeking more of the same with a Just In Time Strike Ability from an 'armed drone swarm'. The current concept is to allow current USAF cargo planes to deploy lightweight, one-way drones that will have their own armament and sensor arrays so as to do short term interdiction and area denial. Use of low-cost and disposable equipment to give intense sensor coverage over an area and coordinated pin-point strike ability changes the equation of area utilization and infiltration. Although such small drones will have limited speed, they will offer a persistent surveillance capability that other UAVs may not have or offer such distributed strike capability that even the SFW cannot give.

For the 'boots on the ground' we are already hearing the first survivor's stories on the new combat armor known as Dragonskin. Front and back panels with full torso wrap come in at 20 lbs. and are less than one inch thick and fully flexible. Again, the move towards higher capability materials and finding those that meet the needs of protecting the warfighter at low weight are paramount, and giving flexibility and protection are a major goal for body armor. This is the first of a new generation of materials and is to replace the older, bulkier ceramic plate and vest system and the folks making it contend that it meets all standards put out by the Army for testing and are willing to have any third party do a test and evaluation of their system. When used in a placement panel system, individuals can reduce the amount of armor they need to protect only vital areas and get that 20 lbs down to nearly half that amount. Here the concept is to protect what needs protecting and let each mission and unit and individual decide what they require 'as-needed'. Other solution types and spaces are also being looked at with a hard determination to break the 10 lb barrier for full upper body protection and mobility equivalent to that of normal combat fatigues. This will be an ongoing piece of work to give the best protection for the lightest possible weight.

Now, with that should go a lightweight, higher accuracy and more capable weapon's system for the individual soldier. The Objective Individual Combat System was started to meet that need, so that a flexible weapons system covering a gamut of capabilities could be achieved with a modular add-on concept. What has bogged this down is a question of round-size, penetration and stopping power of the smaller cartridge of the OICS and the standard NATO rounds employed by the US. The program is thus on hold as keeping everyone supplied with their current weapons takes priority and a re-compete of the OICW may be held now that arms manufacturers realize that the DoD is *serious* about this. When things are down to a dull roar or when full unit implementation can be done, one can expect to see OICW return on a large scale.


Source: globalsecurity.org
This has not, however, stopped the Army from looking at a new weapon called the Corner Shot. In the 'things you always wanted' category of weapons is one that fires around corners, but lets one stay protected around said corner and the Corner Shot system of weapons do just that: they incorporate grenade launcher, 9mm cartridge and optical sensors to facilitate putting very little around a corner to get a very big bang. This is not the old 'bent barrel' from WWII but a fully functional corner firing weapon. Bend the system to your needs, even if it is *over* a corner and see what you are firing at and then fire. A thing of beauty and if 9mm doesn't get attention and respect, the 40mm grenade *will*.

Source: Corner Shot
A weapon that is *not* in question is the Barrett .50 Caliber Rifle, accepted by the US Army in 2003 and given the M-107 designation.

Source: globalsecurity.org
This weapon has been battle tested in Afghanistan and Iraq and has confirmed kills at up to 1.5 miles. It is a future-weapon of today and rumors have it that improvements on it by Mr. Barrett and his company are in store to help it become an integral part of any future combat system.

The US Navy is undergoing a quiet revolution in ship design based on stealth technology, and has already implemented much of this technology on the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers. Incorporating surfaces that deflect RADAR and changing the forms of simple things like railings and adding cooling ducts to cool exhaust, the Arleigh Burke destroyers have the first generation of stealth built into them. Their RADAR and IR profile is very low compared to pre-stealth designs, and that makes it an able combatant in the modern military arena. Added in are its Aegis capabilities for wide-area air defense and control and stand-off missile capability. First gen stealth capability look to be a major design consideration for the Littoral Combat Ship, of which the first one is now undergoing final fitting for delivery. The LCS-1 Freedom looks to be a larger implementation of those design conceptions.

Source: globalsecurity.org
That said the entire conception of what and how to make a naval vessel that fits in with the modern approach to warfare is changing based on a design testbed vessel IX-529 Sea Shadow. This vessel not only has a low RADAR profile, but a low SONAR profile and minimized wake due to the structure of the vessel itself. IR is heavily reduced and distributed and mixed in with the wake to mask the presence of the vessel in operations. When stationary it is very difficult to detect in anything except the visible spectrum. So while the Future Fleet for the 21st century is still undergoing basic design reviews, those designs will need to incorporate the 'lessons learned' of the Sea Shadow.



One of the major concerns is that modern missiles are relatively slow compared to necessary time-to-target, especially deep inland. Traditional naval guns have limited inland range capability and do not do well with non-line of sight targeting unless there is good coordination between spotters and the ship itself. Cruise missiles, at $1 million or more each, are expensive and should only be reserved for strategic targets, not tactical ones. Basically the Navy has an inland fire-support reach problem: missiles are too expensive, guns don't have range and UCAVs are limited for non-carrier vessels. And so the idea for the next generation is something truly from science fiction: the mass driver, aka the railgun. This has been looked at for some time but has not been a good concept with diesel powered Destroyers.

Enter the DDX 21st century design concepts with modern electrical power generation capabilities enough to get a goodly sized projectile up to a decent speed... say Mach 7. At such a speed even a piece of metal impacting would be a huge kinetic energy delivery system, and then add in armor-piercing, explosives and the such like and you start to see a multi-role, high speed delivery system for munitions and sub-munitions. A range of such a beast would be about 200 miles and such a system would integrate with such things as the Dominators, NLOS-C and the rest of the Battle Sphere.

Source: Office of Naval Reasearch presentation May 2006
And all of this without even getting into Lasers! Or trying to find a follow-on to the A-10, which has just been funded to get an upgrade for 300 aircraft. Actually, the basic design concept behind the A-10 is so sound that it may only require some stealth reworking on surface design... but this is one of the few aircraft that should *not* be invisible to *anyone*. We want you to know its coming and don't *care* if you can target it. Go ahead! Take your best shot! Just don't complain about the counter-attack.... and how about dirigibles to orbit for low cost, low priority material? One could probably put up an entire space station piecemeal, then add propellant and move it to a higher orbit... nope, too simple. No rockets and such, no fancy work...

The 21st century appears to be one of incredible high tech and overlooked low-tech that will both transform military operations into something that is only now taking shape. Something I synopsized as NetWar or internetworked, interconnected warfare across all realms of human activity. The Cold War and concepts like containment just do not apply in this transforming world of ours. And when small groups of individuals take up weapons of war without the benefit of a Nation behind them, then Nations thusly attacked should take up the old concept of being able to counter-attack on that same plane: groups warranted to fight illegal and illegitimate groups. For no matter how mighty the military can be against other National military organizations, it should not be able to fight those low battles that new enemies wish to fight. This 21st century offers new ways to fight, but old ways of war to which we must take up responsibility and arms. I want a mighty military that can keep any Nation at bay and reduce it to a whimpering mass. But for those things that are NOT Nations that *still* fight us... it is the recourse to deploy Citizens given Warrants and Letters of Marque and Reprisal to fight these scum for bounty and prizes.

We the People agreed to this back in 1787 and so it remains until this day.

Give the military the guns and bombs and hurtling masses to give voice to those under the iron fist of tyranny.

But let the People take the water from this non-National scum and slime and let it dry in the sunlight of liberty so that it may curl up and die for lack of sustenance. This is dirty work fit for the Repo Man of We the People, not Our fine Military. Cleansing those who wish to fight illegal war and dishonorable battles has always been a battle of the People to fight and only when the things necessary to fight too great for individuals does the Nation need step in. Fighting against distributed and dishonorable terrorists is nothing law enforcement can properly do, nor do these terrorists mass so that armies can fight them properly. Shadow warriors can strike here and there, but they do not have the tools and ability granted them by We the People to do the job that We agree to do by those things We have handed Congress to sign off upon. That is Our fight as a Nation in whole, not in part. And We must agree to it and pay that price of liberty... of freedom... and of justice to bring final rest to those dishonorably slaughtered by Our enemies. We agree to pay that price of freedom so that we may be free.

Unless supporting your own freedom is too heavy a burden for you.... I am sure that those seeking Empire will help you remove that yoke of painful freedom and enslave you so that you never need decide on anything ever again.

"Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and its conscious that he gains protection while he gives it."

Andrew Jackson

I Rant... not a Middle Eastern Nation!

With a bit of luck life will be returning to something approaching normality within a week or so. This rant should help tide things over.

Now, while I was and am somewhat pre-occupied with this *life* concept, there have been a few minor ruckuses here and there, but there main one involves Representative Foley who, it appears, was caught being lewd and lascivious to a minor using email. Said minor had previously been a Congressional Page, but had left that internship but still got said email from Rep. Foley. From what I have been able to read and figure out, and the investigation, news reports and blogging overview have been voluminous, is that the House Leadership did *not* investigate this earlier on and did not actually act in an ethical manner to ask Rep. Foley to resign. This is surprising?

I would like to point out that this very same House Leadership has acted to try and shield Rep. Jefferson (D-La) from investigation that covers recovery of evidence from House Office space and that such was done with a *warrant* from the Courts. So, the Executive asked for this, the Judicial granted it and then the Legislative.... does its best to block it. Indeed, this is such an egregious mis-reading of the Constitution, that it can only be looked at as a Congressional attempt to shield itself from all laws. In doing that thing it acts like Royalty, believing it has privilege and may not be held accountable by anyone.

Now, I am incensed more by the previous incident than this most recent, but it is not out of character with the attitude that is being seen in both chambers of Congress. Consider the now defunct Kennedy-McCain immigration bill, which wanted to do some of the following:

First, the price tag of that Bill, all on its lonesome was $54 Billion to offer a 'comprehensive' immigration policy and 'path to citizenship' for those that have broken the law. Mind you I looked at the cost of a fully offensive capable border wall, festooned with sensors, put under command of NORTHCOM and able to repel individuals, tunnelers, near surface aircraft and, really, anything short of a T-72 tank. Rough guesstimate was $5 Billion, but for even TEN TIMES that price it is cheaper than a 'path to citizenship'. Add in a few hundred million per year for deportations, end agricultural and business subsidies and actually *enforce* the laws of the land on the books and close and shutter businesses that employ illegal slave labor. Somehow this lofty 'path to citizenship' is more expensive than just protecting the Nation and enforcing the laws. Go figure.

Secondly, it would prevent employers of illegal aliens from FIRING THEM! Yes, you go that right. The best union in the world could not ask for a sweeter deal: do no work and get paid for it!

Third, Senator John Ensign wanted to add an earned income tax credit for illegal aliens doing ILLEGAL WORK.

Fourth, the bill would have put forth Social Security benefits for all work done here ILLEGALLY. And, after running the numbers, one can see that we have just as many unemployed CITIZENS looking for work as we have illegals working illegally.

Fifth, Senator Jeff Bingaman wanted to add in more LEGAL immigration... but with giving illegal aliens a 'pass' he makes a poor case for why ANYONE who wanted to come here should do so LEGALLY.

Sixth, Senator Russ Feingold wanted to change the immigration hearings so that it would be harder to DEPORT individuals.

Seventh and worse, the floor managers added in an amendment that would require the President to get Mexico's OK for any border fences! So much for putting foreign policy under the Executive, I guess... the Senate has just stated that it KNOWS BETTER.

Now the long list of things going wrong with Congress as an institution is getting to look pretty bad. I do complain and point out that the Congress of 1972-1976 destroyed the US Armed Forces, betrayed an Ally and absolutely demoralized the United States and gave tacit approval in its work to the Soviet Union's expansionist ideas. We have paid heavily for that toll to this day, as in that over-reach by the USSR a group known as al-Qaeda came into being to fight them and all things Western. The fall out of Congress deciding it knows foreign policy and war fighting better than the Executive is not a good one given that recent history.

But this list being garnered the past couple of years by THIS Congress is not good, either:

- The Senate trying to decide on foreign policy and diminish National Security in that doing.

- 90 members have sat in Congress for 20 years and have been unable to keep their promise of 1986 to do *something* about controlling illegal immigration. You might want to think upon those names and remember them as National Security *seatwarmers*.

- The House trying to extend the Constitutional protections to ones that are all-encompassing.

- The House Leadership not finding the ability to reason out when an Ethics investigation should be started on one of its members.

- Congress unwilling to act against those municipalities that have seen fit to throw out the entire Constitution and act as autonomous States so as to decrease and demean National Security and encourage illegal slave labor.

- Congress unable to actually understand its full and complete War Powers and exercise them in defense of the Nation. This would require a re-thinking of what War in all of its forms actually means to the Republic in the 21st Century. That is WHY Congress is elected! To find newer and better ways to defend the Republic, empower its Citizens and allow them to secure their Rights and Freedoms.

- Congress trying to establish power over the Executive that it does not have and cannot enforce, because the Executive is given those powers to HAVE, not Congress.

- Some Congressmen getting the bright idea that Congress should over-step its powers against the States and institute a Federal law that will over-ride the State's right to determine that when individuals are born or become viable fetuses they are Citizens. Congress gets immigration and naturalization powers *only* and NOTHING ELSE. That is reserved to the States and their Citizens to decide and can be done so whenever those States choose all on their lonesome.

- The Leader of the House Majority is willing to vituperate against the 'other party' on National Security when his *own* party has been unwilling to do much of anything. As witness Representative Kingston being 'unclear on the concept' on illegal aliens and National Security. Mr. Kingston maxed out the poor 'Dumb Looks-o-meter' from which it has not recovered.

- A 'virtual wall' concept floated by Congress to stop illegal aliens, to which I will believe when the first 'virtual bathroom' is invented, no paper allowed.

- Congress doing NOTHING when it now knows that Hezbollah agents and sympathizers are working within the US and using the porous border to transact business and infiltrate into the Nation. I expect they will begin to take that seriously when rocket launching platforms get set up along the border and the Mexican military and police are bribed to 'look the other way'. Worked in Lebanon, should work here, too.

- The McCain-Feingold bill that LIMITS FREE SPEECH during an election cycle. What part of Amendment I can Congress and the President not understand? It is exactly one sentence. Even those living in the Short Attention Span Theater should be able to comprehend this, the Law of the Land.

I am NOT a conspiracy theorist nor mongering a conspiracy theory. You do not need to have a conspiracy to have events work out in a way that will shift the Nation hard so as to make Congress more powerful, diminish the Executive and put in the hands of Congress tools to remove the concept of liberty from the land.

I am not a partisan in this and see that the Democratic Party would be *far worse* than this in a shorter period of time given half a chance. But, choosing between one party that will dissolve the Nation quickly and one that wishes to do it at a slower rate is NOT A GOOD CHOICE. Claiming to be 'less bad' than the other side does *not* put you on the side of all that is good and right. This is the choice between Satan and Cthulhu, and I do not like the decision space that the vaunted two party system has limited the Nation to. When times of trouble come to Our Shores and Our Government is shown to be incapable of handling it, We the People hold the ultimate responsibility as Individuals.

I share my part of the blame in this, as I had concentrated in my life until struck by hard physical and mental ailments to trying to find a better way to let the warfighters of the Shadows and the Pointy End work together as a continuous whole. That synthesis would have taken a hale and hearty individual another decade to get done. I now realize that the problem was not in that realm, although it is still mightily important. I did my best to enable those that were healthy, hearty and taking up the fight to be able to get the enemies of the Union better and more safely so that they could do their jobs well for all of us and thereby protect the Nation. My duty as a Citizen, to this Nation and to all the others that consider themselves to be Citizens of this Great Nation is to offer *better* solutions to the problems that vex this Nation. That is the duty of ALL Citizens: to find common ground of agreement amongst us all so as to BUILD a Nation.

To those who are putting mere politics ahead of the Nation: you, in that action and that doing, are threatening the Nation *directly*. By giving up the search for common ground and seeking mere political advantage, you are undermining the understanding and compact that We the People have to work together and join together as a Nation. That does not mean giving up your viewpoints. It *does* mean responsible presentation of those views and recognizing that they need to accommodate the greater good of the Nation and not threaten individuals or the Nation by putting them forth. Screaming about your feelings is fine. I suggest a pillow. It listens very well and disturbs few.

To those wishing to flee from warfare: you are saying you will only fight to defend this Nation once the fight has come to us. It has come to us, starting in 1979 in Iran. After that the war upon us has hit multiple times in Beirut, Khobar, Kenya and Tanzania, New York City multiple times, the Pentagon in Virginia, Karachi, Langley in Virginia, Yemen. How often do we need to suffer attacks before you will realize that this fight can only be *lost* if we run from it? I offer better and deeper ways to fight that are thoroughly legal and Constitutional, and will shift the burden of the fight from the Federal Government to We the People to take up on Our own, as individuals joining together to hound our enemies and give them no rest. The Armed Forces cannot do this on their own. Law enforcement added in cannot do this. Nor Diplomacy added in. All those powers taken together *still* fail the Union in this fight. That sort of fight must then shift to We the People.

This is not a war that can be fought piecemeal by these parts of Government and require the greatest power of the Nation to be put against it: We the People sacrificing time, energy, money and even our very lives to find and stop those that supply Our enemies. Pushing to have the military retreat in this unless you have a MORE EFFECTIVE WAY TO FIGHT is cowardice of the rankest and worst sort imaginable. It is surrender to an enemy that will only accept submission or death. Which will you choose for the Nation? Submit or die. When you run, that is what it comes down to, and as they have already reached the US, that will be their final offer. Fighting to 'not win' or because the fight is 'unwinnable' is not an option any longer against a barbaric foe seeking world dominion. It is unfortunate our two party system cannot recognize that.

To those who wish to see 'groups' empowered: This Nation is founded on individuals. Attempting to change it to group rule is anti-democratic in conception and leads to Empire. You wish to take us back to times of elite rule, aristocracy, autocracy and finally, degeneration into Empire. You are the enemy.

And to those who just cannot find the time in their lives to actually think on these things: Why do you still consider yourself to be a Citizen? You take up no burden, no responsibility, no effort and do *nothing* to fulfill those things that We the People agree to as being part of this Nation. If you want all of your 'rights' and none of your 'responsibilities' then you are helping the enemy, encouraging dissolution and dragging the Nation to a halt, against those that will not rest until it is destroyed. Why, exactly, are you a Citizen? Being a Citizen requires active recognition and working towards the betterment of everyone and understanding that you may not agree to the path taken, but you are responsible for it and for finding a better way to make this Nation a success. You got the gift of freedom as a Citizen. You also got the strings of responsibility attached to that gift and acknowledge that you will not *diminish it* by your existence and be able to pass on a larger gift to those that follow you. By not taking an active part in this agreement, you are denying that you are worth those freedoms that this Nation insures for us all. Not *from* the Government, but amongst ourselves.

In a few short weeks We the People will exercise Our franchise and vote for representative government in this Republic of the United States.

I encourage all Citizens to vote, even if it is just in protest with the empty ballot.

And I wish that there could be one final check mark on that ballot for 'no confidence'. For that is what I have with the existing political parties.