Marines Speak Out On the Haditha Marines Case

EAGLES UP!!!

Marines Speak Out On the Haditha Marines Case

June 14th, 2007 ·

From Conservative Thoughts 

Former Marines are speaking out!

Captain Greenlaw a retired Marine officer has written a letter about the lack of support the Haditha Marines are getting from their superiors. These good men have had their careers ruined and personal finances (and their families) drained defending against criminal charges that should never have been filed.

This first letter is from Troy Watson who issues an invitation to those who read this to show your support for these marines by forwarding Captain Greenlaw’s letter along with your comments to Lt Colonel Riggs.

Dear Marines and family,
I have copied Capt. Greenlaw’s email to LtCol Riggs below – I am giving you an opportunity to show our solidarity & agreement with all the hard work and effort that Capt Greenlaw does.

Please copy and paste his message and add your comments – if only to say that you agree wholeheartedly with Capt Greenlaw – – then email it to LtCol Riggs at this e address: RiggsB@marcent.usmc.mil.

Capt Greenlaw has been on the firing line for us and a helluva lot of other Marines for quite awhile and the ‘powers that be’ are probably thinking that he is the only one who is speaking for our Marines – I want them to know that we support Capt Greenlaw and agree with his comments and that he is not all by himself. Please take the time to send LtCol Riggs an email.

Semper Fi,

 

Troy Watson
http://www.e27Marines-1stMarDiv.org

Here is Captain Greenlaw’s letter; please read and see if you agree!

 

LtCol Riggs:

This is a msg I received from another Retired Marine Officer who is unhappy about the way the Corps is now looking after their young Marines.

 

I, for one, have a strapping young grandson, who lives here in Oceanside and, at this point in time, I would not recommend that he join the Corps. If this everlasting circus going on with K/3/1 & K/3/5 continues much longer, the Commandant is going to experience rough days ahead on recruiting and I don’t think these huge bonus’ he’s offering will entice these young, very intelligent, Marines to extend or reenlist, as we did years ago, when we were sure our leaders were watching our 6′oclock & not locking us up for doing the job we enlisted to do and that is to fight this country’s wars.

When I read some of these articles where the Prosecutor gets some witness on the stand and they discuss bullet holes in the heads of civilians, etc., that tells me that the Prosecutor or the witness has never been in a fire fight with lead flying all around you. You put a weapon on full automatic and start firing at enemy positions that you are receiving fire from and some innocents are bound to get killed. War is hell. Some body ought to educate this Mr. Parks, the DOD expert, who supposedly wrote the “rules of war”. Give this Mr. Parks an M-16 & Flak Jacket, send him in- country, put him on the line with the Sgt’s, Cpl’s, Pfc’s & 2ndLt’s and let’s see what he can do. I think he will come back and re-write the book. I’ve attended 3 or 4 of these hearings and the Bacos trial. Very rarely, if ever, do you see a Defense Counsel get up and object or do anything. It has all appearances of a well scripted Broadway Play.

It would now appear we have lost two good 2ndLt’s. First, it was Patano and if Phan is smart, he will resign his commission. His career has now been wrecked by thoughtless actions of those who should have stood by his side.

V/R & S/F,

 

Don Greenlaw Captain,
USMC(Ret’d) Marine Mustang

Here are Troy Watson’s comments he forwarded along with Captain Greenlaw’s letter;

 

Dear LtCol Riggs,

I am sending my 2bits along with the email you received from Capt Greenlaw. It is my fear that because Capt Greenlaw is fighting battles on behalf of Marines in trouble – that you will ignore his comments or that you may think that he is ‘all by himself’ – – I hope this email will clear up that notion if that has been your thoughts and hopes.

Don Greenlaw, on his own volition and because of the helluva Marine that he has always been -has become a spokesperson for 100’s of Marines who absolutely agree with him 100% as I do and we all are very appreciative of his efforts.

I have always been on the firing line touting our Marine Corps to young folks wherever I go and encouraging them to enlist in the finest. I have to admit that I have not been doing that for over a year now – quite frankly, have been very po’d off about the way the Haditha Marines have been treated and think its a damned shame – it seems like they are getting railroaded and have been since the very beginning. There are two young folks that I visit with at the local grocery store (Sprouts) and they see me with my MC shirts and covers and are continually asking me about whether or not they should join the Corps. I have not been very encouraging in light of the forementioned.

I served in Korea during 1952 with E 2 7, 1st Mar Div as a machine gunner receiving a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. I guarantee you we had great leadership back then – very firm but also always taking care of us.

Semper Fidelis,

 

Troy Watson

 

http://www.e27Marines-1stMarDiv.org

Here is an excerpt of a letter that expresses concerns for the Corps ability and desire to take care of their own (edited to remove personal names/details);

Subject: Re: Fw: “THE CORPS”

 

Thanks (name removed) , I needed that. I am so disappointed in the Marine Corps leadership these days that it nearly breaks my heart. The Commandant recently sent a letter asking all retired Marines to help with recruiting.

 

I’m sorry General Conway, I can’t in all good conscience suggest to a Mother that the Marine Corps will take good care of her son. […]

Semper Fi
Name Withheld

Another letter of support and this letter points out how these Marines have been judged GUILTY before they have had a trial of even a hearing.

 

Col Riggs:

Sir,

 

I am writing this letter in support of all the things that, Capt. Greenlaw has stated in his letter, As you know, the Capt. was a former mustang and has been my friend and the spokesman for all of the old red hats that attend most functions at Camp Pendleton.

 

I am a former Marine Sgt.who saw action in Korea including stints on, Bunker Hill, Reno, Carson and Vegas. I am familiar with the , ROE’S and believe me when you are fighting any enemy, you must engage when fired upon. We did not have the same restrictions as todays troops have.

I am the Sr. Vice Commander with the XXXXX county XXXX Org. I am also a member of two Marine Clubs and the reunion coordinator for, XXXXX vets. In my daily communications with combat Marine veterans, I have yet to find one that is not appalled at the treatment of the Haditha Marines and spouses.

 

First,it appears that they were convicted before they got back from Iraq. Yes convicted by “Senator Murtha’, and the press. I still remember seeing, Lt Col Chessani holding his new baby when they returned. He wasn’t allowed to finish his leave before being releaved of duty for lack of confidence.

I have spoken to most of his troops before and after deployment and they would follow him to hell as I would. This is such a tragedy. When did the Corp. start eating it’s own? This is too political. I am afraid of what is happening to our Corp. I am sure that recruiting will be affected because of,”lack of confidence.”

 

The young men volunteering to extend their deployment is commendable,but I am afraid it is out of loyalty to their buddies and not to the Corp.

Sir, I apologize for rambling but my feelings are strong,as are those of my friends. We know and respect Gen. Mattis and his fine reputation as a excellent and fair leader. If possible, I would appreciate it if you would forward this letter to him on his return. I know the ultimate decisions on this whole trial event will end up in his hands.

 

It is my sincere feelings that he will make the correct judgement on these men. I know there must be alot of political pressure on this case,but as a group of combat vets we all believe this whole thing was a farce and unjust to all Marines.

Lets correct this in the name of justice.

 

God bless these men and our Corp.

 

S/F
Respectfully,

 

Name Withheld,

 

former Sgt. USMC

The disservice and damage the MSM and Rep John Murtha have done to the Armed Forced and to the Haditha Marines in particular is shameful. Equally shameful is the Marine Corps reluctance to take care of there own. Please take a few moments to express your concern about the Haditha Marines case to Col Riggs at RiggsB@marcent.usmc.mil. Then please pass along to others to do the same.

EAGLES UP! 

Myth vs Fact

Myth	Fact
Islam: Religion of peace.	9:29:Fight [them] until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. Tafsir: 1 2 3 4

Hillary’s Rub

The originality of Hillary Rodham (or no Rodham) Clinton is lacking originality. It never ceases to amaze this writer that the Leftinistra seem to resort to copying others for some mysterious reason. One could suppose that imitation is the primo example of flattery. In this case, it is merely flatulence.

HilaryHub is really Hillary’s Rub. It is her way to strike against the opposition and it isn’t going to go very far. Her advisers, one can postulate, said it would be a grand idea to emulate The Drudge Report. The problem with that line of thinking is that The Drudge Report presents all sides to all issues. He reports and you decide, as it were. With Hillary’s Rub, the presentations are one-sided. The authors presented, depict Hillary as a caring, semi-evangelical and “nice” individual that deserves to be President of The United States. The site is also designed to “tweak” opposition folks…such as I. The only thing “tweaked” is my laugher…I nearly had an “accident” laughing as hard as I did. I made a slight reference to this site here on a previous post.

At the Politico:

HillaryHub isn’t a typical campaign site. With a simple, three-column look, occasionally edgy headlines and links to a blend of videos, reports from newspapers and blogs and campaign memos, it’s a news aggregator on the model of the Drudge Report. The difference, of course, is that the stories are chosen to depict Clinton favorably and to tweak her critics.

When The Politico posted an internal Obama campaign memo aimed at raising the expectations for Clinton’s fundraising, HillaryHub linked to it under the headline: “Obama Camp Touts Hillary’s Poll Numbers and Endorsements.”

Imagine that. Links to sites like sacbee, touting the 1984 VP selection, Geraldine Ferraro, in the DNC camp is to show us, what? I viral feminist? Is that a good thing? She didn’t learn her lesson, then? She ran with Mondale. That wasn’t such a grand idea now, was it?

Wednesday, Ferraro visited the Sacramento offices of Global Consulting Group, a New York-headquartered public affairs firm for which she is a senior adviser. She endorsed Clinton’s candidacy in April, declaring: “By electing Hillary Clinton, we can smash the ultimate glass ceiling once and for all.”

Is that what Hillary is all about? Shattering glass ceilings? How does that relate to the Global War On Terror?

Interns? This article at the Hillary Rub, is intended to debunk the recent books all about the Real Hillary.

If you want to understand the woman who would be president, don’t bother to read the latest avalanche of recycled biographies – just ask her interns.

Oh, I see. Hillary’s interns know best. Well versed authors, taking years to investigate and interview a plethora of people close to and contrary to Hillary surely wouldn’t know better than interns. Who did the authors interview? Were there no “former interns” of Hillary anywhere to be found?

This Hillary Rub is doomed. It is domed because it is based on a lie but the Democrats are GREAT at promoting their lies as truth. The gullible fall for anything.

That was just three of the twenty articles displaying Hillary as the New Wonder Woman. She is a wonder alright. I wonder what in the hell she is up to.

Sex, Lies and Videotape meets Disney’s Fantasyland…or Your Typical Liberal in 2007

Today’s liberals are ranting, foaming at the mouth and talking on point from their mother-ship–or George Soros at MoveOn.org, depending on whether or not they’ve changed their tin-foil hats and black sheets over their window that day and on who gets to them first upon awakening.

They are angry because the silent majority–the sleeping giant–is awakening and not putting up with their crap anymore. They’re angry because congress ran on lies and deceit and they voted in those criminals. They’re angry because REAL AMERICANS don’t want to live in a socialistic country, appeasing criminals such as themselves and the islamofascists.

They preach they’re full of love, peace, tolerance, freedom of speech and diversity. And, they are–to a point. That point is up until you disagree with them and voice your own opinion.

They’re furious because the war in Iraq and the GWOT is going well. They’re furious because we have an excellent economy and taxes were cut to achieve that economy. They’re terrified because Republicans are showing candidates much stronger on the issues than anyone they’re fielding. Republicans, REAL AMERICANS, don’t want more entitlements, they want less; we don’t want tax increases, we want the tax cuts to stay and more money in our own pockets; because we’re tired of generational welfare and lazy pieces of shit sitting on their asses expecting the government to support them from cradle to grave while bitching; they’re terrified because WE GET IT on the islamofascists and they don’t; they want to appease, we want to WIN. They want to murder with impunity and call it abortion–and if you disagree you’re a religious right freak. Or you have no morals because you want lazy pieces of shit to get off their ghetto stoop, quit dealing drugs, gang-banging,committing crimes and popping out babies every nine months, not knowing who the child’s daddy’s are (and of course wanting the government to support those children too) and become responsible adults.

They’re mad because we listen to rational radio rather than bullshit–and because no one wanted to listen to the bullshit and the liberal stations went down they want the “fairness doctrine” reinstated.

We’re supposed to accept the immorality of homosexuality, susie has two mommy’s or two daddy’s, their spin doctor lies (get us off foreign oil, it’s all about big oil–yet THEY blocked drilling on our own oil fields because of “environmentalism”), global warming bullshit, et. al.

Well, I have this to say to them—FUCK YOU!

Perhaps the best illustration of this grandiose, delusional, paranoid, kumbaya singing, appeasment is this that was posted at Snooper’s by a troll that has met the legal criteria of cyber stalker. And, as a special treat, I’ll be posting comments he made here.

This particular piece of filth on the bottom of my shoe claims he’s Christian and sits in judgment on everyone else. Yet, he gambles for a living, lies about his wealth, passes off his child’s immorality (how did his child get that way to begin with?) and any accomplishments anyone has of their own, he calls them “liar”. He contributes nothing to any discussion (except entertainment and even then he’s boring)–however, he does illustrate the typical liberal of today. Hiding behind a monitor and keyboard, he thinks he’s safe. Unfortunately, he’s not as safe as he thinks.

I won’t post his blog name–no sense giving out his address to right thinking individuals who will be outraged by him. We don’t want to stoop to his level (subterranean is still way above his level). Oh, he also brags about the millions he makes in the stock market (I have NEVER known anyone with any kind of wealth to “speak” like this–people with money, new or old, are much more urbane and polished) while skipping from IP to IP–probably because he can’t afford his own computer. He has faked his service record (and this has been verified) and denigrates the troops that are fighting and dying for his right to spew his filth. And lies so often about so many things he can’t keep them all straight. He also claims, repeatedly, great intelligence. It is a known fact that those that brag about it 1) ain’t got it and 2) don’t degenerate into the kind of filth he does. That includes sexual prowess as well, again something he brags about constantly. He also shows, quite clearly in this piece, he never learned how to raise a child properly, just like most liberals and actually condones the COMPLETE LACK OF MORALS he instilled in his offspring.

For those who, at first glance, think this is actually an innocuous piece of nothing, I’ll be making my own comments to point out the poisons hiding in the piece–and the lies.

 

Here, then, for your entertainment:

********************

This was published in Snooper’s comments Section on June 12, 2007 at 7:50 p.m.

My younger son planned a trip to Egypt in the spring right after 9/11 (okay–9/11 happened in the fall, at least 6 months earlier than claimed as “right after 9/11”). I told him he was out of his freaking mind because of all of the dangers I thought he’d be exposing himself to over there. He told me I worry too much and that he’d be fine. He had met 2 Egyptian airlines stewardesses who invited him to stay with them in their country for a couple of weeks. (Translation–he wanted to get laid and couldn’t find an American desparate enough for him) I couldn’t change his mind no matter how hard I pleaded with him. (Plead HELL–REAL parents DON’T plead with their children–they don’t have to if you’ve raised them properly!) If you knew this kid you would know that I couldn’t change his mind from the time he was about 8 months old so it was a losing cause. (Meaning I never bothered to discipline him and appeased him all his life) The day arrived for his departure and I drove him to the train that would take him to the airport for his trip to Egypt. I told him to call us as soon as he arrived over there and bade him goodbye.

Two days passed until he called (TWO DAYS? What the hell kind of kid waits two days in a time of crisis?) to tell us he was fine so my wife and I stopped worrying. On the 3rd day he called again to say he needed to stay at the hotel instead of the girls’ home and that he would need us to wire him some money to do so. I was confused because he’d given us the impression that the only thing he had to pay for was the plane fare, which was discounted because the girls were able to get him an employee rate. He explained that they’d had an argument and the girls told him they never wanted to see him again. I found out later that he’d given them some kind of bull that had them believing he was wealthy. (Translation: he wanted to get laid really bad and couldn’t find an American desparate enough so he had to lie to these two young women)They thought they were going to freeload off of him while he thought the exact thing about them. (And he claims to have raised his children properly and to have the morals he has–which begs the question, what morals?) Anyway it was too confusing but I wanted to kill him for screwing up, again, for the millionth time. Once more, if you had known this kid you would have known he was notorious for getting himself into jams, which I or my wife had to bail him out of (REAL PARENTS don’t bail their kids out of jams but let the children suffer the natural consequences of their actions–it’s called love and logic, tough love, etc.)

He said that he’d met an Egyptian cab driver named Hasid whom my son hired as his travel guide in the country for the remainder of his stay there. (He had to call mommy and daddy for hotel money but could afford a private cab driver/tour guide?) Hasid drove him all over the place, pointing out different interesting sites that most tourists are unaware of. (And, I have some nice, beachfront property in Oklahoma to sell you–ALL CABDRIVERS SHOW ALL THEIR FARES THE INTERESTING PLACES, TELLING THE FARES THE SAME THINGS) My son and Hasid became good friends, sharing stories about their families. My son told me that he realized that there wasn’t really much difference between people over here and people in Egypt – their concerns and goals are the same. They care about their families and want them to prosper and be healthy. One day, while driving around, Hasid said he had to stop at the market place to pick up some food for his family. He had to feed a family of 6 kids, a wife, and a couple of other relatives who lived with them. (Must have been a shock to the son to see a man who supported his family rather than mooching off them) My son accompanied him at the market and noticed that Hasid was taking great care to make sure to purchase only what was absolutely needed to feed his family without running out of money. (DUH—it’s called a budget–maybe the son should try an honest job and a budget instead of trying to swindle and con people!) My son managed to give Hasid some money without insulting him by saying it was the ‘bonus’ he was going to give him, on his last day there, for spending so much time showing him the sites of Egypt. Hasid finally accepted the money but insisted that my son go home with him for dinner. The kid accepted the invitation and visited with Hasid’s family until the wee hours of the following morning. He said they wouldn’t let him leave – they kept asking all kinds of questions about America. My son said that he found out the regular, ordinary folks over there love our country and the people who live here. It’s the government they have a problem with – no different than us over here, right? WRONG–WE HAVE PROBLEMS WITH LIBERAL ASSHOLES–SEE THE PICTURE ABOVE

The following day after they visited a couple of other sites, Hasid asked my son if he would like to accompany the Egyptian to a local café where some of his friends hung out. My son said okay so they went. They met with a few of Hasid friends – some of them spoke almost perfect English. (Well DUH–We educate a vast majority of them in our colleges!) For the next few hours they spoke, once more, about America. My son told me that their view was the same as those Hasid’s family shared with him the night before. One of them said, “Bush is an a**hole but we know that many of you Americans also think this, yes?” My son burst out laughing and replied “Yeah, especially my Dad – Bush actually makes him sick sometimes and he can’t even listen to him talk. Whenever he comes on the T.V. my father or mother immediately change the channel to another station. (Bush’s approval ratings were the highest–in fact at their peak–during this so-called put down of Bush–no war, no rumblings of war, so why would any Egyptian be bitching about Bush? THEY WEREN’T)

After my son told me about how he had interacted with the people in Egypt I can’t tell you how proud I was of him. I mean, he went over there without a thought about anything except those 2 girls (And lying to get into their pants, passing himself off as something he wasn’t, calling mommy and daddy to bail him out and yet had enough for a private tour guide–yeah, LOTS to be proud of!) and wound up spreading MORE good will in his short time over there than any government program could have. (More like confirmed what they already had as a preconceived thought as ugly, lazy, pampered Americans) He represented everything that is good about our country – without any of the governmental bull. He was an ambassador of good will and showed a few people, in another country, the real face of America. (Nah, just confirmed their preconceived notions and the son was too stupidly liberal–like his father–to see it)

I thought about my own experience with people from other countries and how similar it was with that of my son in Egypt. I realized, once more, that people really don’t ‘hate us for our freedom’ as the deluded decider (from the way this one talks, he would LOVE to be the “decider” and whines because he’s not) likes to say. They only hate what this government has caused throughout the world. When you talk to people one on one, like my son did during his stay in Egypt, you find that there really aren’t that many differences between us.

You also find that our government lies and distorts everything in order to push its own agenda throughout the world. (And you also find that underneath the thin veneer of civility shown to the world, they have also stated, in no uncertain terms, they don’t give a damn about our policies, freedoms, etc. They plan to annihilate us, plain and simple–but you’re too stupid to hear that)

********************

His comments from two of my threads–there had been no comments posted prior to his drive-by assaults.

From Know Thine Enemy Part 14:

I started watching the video you have in your library titled ‘The Battle of New Orleans’. I couldn’t watch the entire thing because it made me ill. You are ONE sick mother fucker and if I am able to I am going to drive you out of here. You are the most disgusting neonazicon I’ve ever met and that’s saying alot. Spreading lies about an impoverished group of people you fucking bigot! And no, they didn’t shoot at helicopters – that was all right wing bull shit.

raoul 06.13.07 – 5:22 pm #

And, from Refutations of Idiocy Part 2:

go fuck yourself you dried up cunt.

raoul 06.13.07 – 5:23 pm #

Oh, and for those of you who want to keep this idiot off your own blogs, here are his IP addresses:

 

1) 71.248.252.50; 2) 12.22.103.327; 3) 75.55.159.152; 4) 195.175.37.8; 5) 200.66.191.1 and 6) 75.28.131.74 (See what I mean? He brags about his wealth, but obviously is using other people’s computers to do his “drive by’s” because he can’t afford his own computer).

U.S. agent says Iraqis led him to Saddam’s WMD

And the Leftinistra scream, FOUL BALL!”

Hat Tip American Patriot

U.S. agent says Iraqis led him to Saddam’s WMD
By William Hargrave

This claim comes from Dave Gaubatz, who served for 12 years as an agent in the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations. He says he was “hand-picked” to locate weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Between March and July 2003, he identified several of Saddam Hussein’s WMD sites in the immediate aftermath of the Iraq invasion.

Where were they? Huge caches were located within the city limits of the southern Iraqi city of Nasariyah, and were also discovered in another location 15 to 20 miles south of Nasariyah between two canals and near Um Qasr in the Basra region 284 miles south of Baghdad.

Some of this information has been published by The Spectator (London), The New York Sun, and other U.S. newspapers and Internet news sites. But the mainstream media have chosen not to inform readers and viewers of the credible reports of WMDs discovered in Iraq.

According to these reports, Saddam’s WMDs were apparently smuggled to Syria, Iran and other destinations under the nose of American forces. The political fallout that would occur from investigation and affirmation of this extremely serious American operational failure with its profound military and geo-strategic implications has apparently helped to keep a lid on this information—until now.

Gaubatz appealed to Congress to investigate his claims. But neither political party wishes to touch the issue for different reasons. The Democrats do not want the public to know that President Bush’s stated reason for invading Iraq might be justified. The Republicans do not want Americans to know that the administration’s military command failed to stop what may have been the biggest WMD transfer of all time.

The issue is, as The Spectator put it, “an axis of embarrassment.”

At the start of the 2003 invasion, Gaubatz was sent to Nasariyah to locate possible WMD sites and ascertain threats to U.S. interests in the area. Fluent in Arabic, Gaubatz was able to meet numerous locals who told him he had struck gold: the WMDs were actually close by in farms and marshes. Some were buried in concrete bunkers 20-30 feet beneath the Euphrates River. These were vaults with 5-foot-thick concrete walls beneath the river bed.

“These were under 25 feet of water,” Gaubatz said in an interview with Insight. “Saddam didn’t care about poisoning the water of southern Iraq.”

“They took us to the sites, we took photos and grid coordinates,” he said. “The missile imprints were still in the sand. Based on the detail they provided and what was confirmed by others, I felt 100 percent confident WMDs were at the locations identified. The Iraqis told us we must either excavate the sites and remove the WMDs or our enemies would.”

Along with Gaubatz, a group of U.S. Office of Special Investigations (OSI) agents visited the sites and got what his doctor later told him was radiation sickness from all the contaminants in the air and the water.

The U.S., however, did not investigate these locations. Other nations did.

The failure to find significant stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons has proved a massive public relations problem for the Americans and the British, whose intelligence indicating that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did possess WMD stockpiles was one of their primary justifications for the invasion of Iraq.

How credible is the source?

“Mr. Gaubatz is not some marginal figure,” said Melanie Phillips, a columnist for London’s Daily Mail newspaper, in a recent piece on Saddam’s secret WMD bunkers for The Spectator, a weekly British conservative magazine. “He’s pretty well as near to the horse’s mouth as you can get.”

Gaubatz is a sandy-haired man who’s been stationed as a federal agent at nuclear sites stateside and then as a U.S. Air Force special agent overseas. He is widely regarded as one of America’s most capable and experienced intelligence officials. According to Phillips, Gaubatz was decorated in 2001 for being the “lead agent in a classified investigation, arguably the most sensitive counter-intelligence investigation currently in the entire Department of Defense.” Because his “reports were such high quality, many were published in the Air Force’s daily threat product for senior USAF leaders or re-transmitted at the national level to all security agencies in the U.S. government.”

After 20 years on active duty service in counterintelligence work (12 of them as an OSI agent), he retired, and then obtained a position as a civilian Federal Agent with the Air Force (OSI). He was specifically chosen to go to Nasariyah in Iraq to locate Saddam’s WMD sites and discover threats to U.S. forces in the area. He saw mass Shi’ite graves of women holding their babies in their arms. He met Muslims who told him they were being recruited for terrorist cells. Every time he stumbled on a factoid, he sent a memo to the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), a group of more than 1,000 Americans, Brits and Australians whose job it was back in 2003 to locate the WMDs.

Between March and July 2003, Gaubatz says he was taken by local Iraqis to four suspected WMD sites — two within Nasariyah, one just south of the city, and another one near Basra. He says Iraqi sources told him the sites contained biological and chemical weapons, missiles and material for a nuclear program. Gaubatz said he was sure he found the WMD sites because the Iraqi government had obviously gone to considerable lengths to conceal the bunkers. Three of the bunkers were buried 20 to 30 feet under the Euphrates River.

Gaubatz was told by American environmental engineers that the parts of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers near the sites showed abnormally high radiation levels. Gaubatz and his team had also been exposed to radioactive substances and he still suffers unexplained headaches and nausea.

Gaubatz asked his superiors for heavy equipment to be brought in from Kuwait so the bunkers could be excavated. The response was that there weren’t enough soldiers available to secure them.

“People were putting their lives on the line showing us those sites,” he said, adding that some of his informants have since been kidnapped, tortured, and then killed. “But they [the superiors] told me they didn’t have the manpower or equipment to do so, plus it wasn’t safe. Well, war is never safe.”

Moreover, the conventional understanding was that the WMDs were further to the north. Gaubatz had already sent some 60 classified intelligence reports to Prince Sultan Air Base, an American base in Saudi Arabia. When he returned to the United States, he contacted two Republican congressmen: Reps. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan and Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania. Interested, they tried to follow up on his information by accessing the 60 intelligence reports. But not only had all the reports Gaubatz had sent to Saudi Arabia mysteriously disappeared, their intended audience, the ISG, never saw them. The congressmen tried extracting information from the Defense Department and the CIA as to how this was allowed to happen, but were stonewalled.

Gaubatz has since learned the sites have been looted and an unknown amount of the weapons carried off. Now, he says, the U.S. has an even more difficult task: Figuring out exactly where the WMDs are and proving they were transported there from Iraq. He says the WMDs were there for the finding not so long ago, but the U.S military totally underestimated what it would take to locate them.

“There weren’t enough soldiers to secure the borders, much less exploit the sites,” he said.

“The Americans were not prepared. They were overwhelmed. It was a Katrina of war,” Gaubatz said, referring to the massive August 2005 hurricane that wiped out much of New Orleans.

“We witnessed thousands of Iranians pouring into southern Iraq,” he said. “We were told by Iraqis the Iranians’ intent was to initiate a civil war.”

Gaubatz says his team “immediately” reported this important intelligence to the Pentagon and the CIA, but “it was never followed up on.”

“The Iranians were taking over Shi’ite-dominated southern Iraq,” he said.

Internet news sites cited reports in 2003 that U.S. intelligence believed Saddam’s WMDs were moved west to Lebanon’s heavily fortified Bekaa Valley, a beehive of Hezbollah forces, Iranians and Syrians. Also, prominent Washington journalist Bill Gertz has reported on the stream of tractor-trailer trucks the CIA spotted moving from Iraq to Lebanon via Syria in early 2003. Russian military advisors and special forces helped move the poison gas components, missile parts, nuclear-related equipment, tank and aircraft parts. Some of the WMDs could have also been trucked eastward into Iran. Why were the Russians so anxious to get the incriminating materials out before the Americans arrived? Perhaps because much of it was manufactured by them or Eastern European nations such as Ukraine, Bulgaria and Belarus.

Oddly, the United States has not publicized this huge arms transfer. Gertz reported that John Shaw, a deputy undersecretary of state who in October 2004 leaked information to the media of Russia’s involvement in the truck convoys, was forced to resign on Dec. 10 of that year. The reason: “exceeding his authority” in releasing the information, according to the Pentagon.

Gaubatz says that, while in Iraq, he was continuously mistaken by locals for being a Russian. This was because prior to the U.S. invasion, the locals said they saw numerous Russians coming in and out of the area.

The likelihood that WMDs were successfully spirited out of Iraq was also addressed in a 2006 book, “Saddam’s Secrets,” by former Iraqi fighter pilot and Gen. Georges Sada. He says not only were many of the WMDs driven out in large 18-wheeler trucks to Syria, but some WMDs were also flown out.

“I know the names of some of those who were involved in smuggling WMDs out of Iraq in 2002 and 2003,” Sada wrote. “I know the names of officers from the front company, SES, who received the weapons from Saddam. I know how and when they were transported and shipped out of Iraq. And I know how many aircraft were actually used and what types of planes they were.”

Gaubatz has learned through his Iraqi sources that some time after his 2003 visit, someone brought in heavy equipment and got the weapons out of the Euphrates bunkers and other nearby sites. With notebooks showing the site coordinates in hand, he meticulously makes his case.

“Take me back to those sites and let’s see what’s there now,” he says. “It won’t be a popular thing to say the enemy has taken these WMDs. You’d at least find the footprints: labs and storage.”

“I have been informed by Israeli intelligence and learned through British intelligence that the intelligence on WMDs our team provided in 2003 was accurate,” he said.

Gaubatz almost got a chance to go back a year ago when then-Congressman Curt Weldon expressed interest in visiting the sites. About nine Iraqis who had helped Gaubatz locate the sites had been given asylum in the U.S. after word leaked out that they were helping the Americans. According to e-mails showing correspondence between him and Weldon’s chief of staff, Russ Caso, Weldon met with some of these Iraqis. His office then thought up a plan: Weldon and Hoekstra, who was then the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, would travel to Iraq on a junket, but detour to a WMD site. If they could get the military to produce some heavy equipment and security, Weldon would be present during the excavations. If nothing was found, the trip would remain secret. If WMDs were found, the congressmen would alert the media that they had happened upon the strategic sites.

Then Gaubatz got word that Weldon did not want to alert rival Democrats, the Pentagon or even intelligence officials about the trip. He backed out.

“It was going to be this big private trip,” Gaubatz said, “but they were offering no protection for the Iraqi witnesses.”

Weldon, who lost his election race in 2006, now heads up a company called Defense Solutions. He did not respond to e-mails and phone calls from Insight. Neither did former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who had previously spoken out about the presence of WMDs in Iraq. A spokesman for Hoekstra referred all calls to the House Intelligence Committee, whose spokesman, Jamal Ware, also declined to respond to questions.

Gaubatz is disturbed by what he sees as a government effort to bury the story. He reports being interviewed in March by talk show host Glenn Beck for a one-hour segment to appear on CNN’s Headline News. Gaubatz was with an Iraqi contact for the show. The Iraqi, who was part of the federal witness protection program, got calls from the FBI telling him they should stop the interview from being broadcast. The interview was not shown. Gaubatz says the FBI used security concerns as a justification for leaning on Beck’s people, but the Iraqi had spoken out on these issues before and there had been no problems.

The real problem was, Gaubatz says, that “with me and the Iraqi source going public about this, it would open a can of worms on the WMD issue. Weldon and Russ Caso [Weldon’s chief of staff] keep on telling me not to anger the wrong people.”

Gaubatz rues the fact that many people in Iraq — Americans and Iraqis alike — have risked their lives to reveal priceless intelligence information to U.S. policymakers. But in the sieve that is America’s intelligence apparatus, the most important information gets filtered out so that the president and members of Congress have critical gaps in understanding events on the ground. Weldon and Hoekstra, Gaubatz said, had no idea that WMDs were sitting in Iraq waiting to be found until he took the initiative to approach them.

“I was hand-picked to go to Iraq and locate WMD sites,” Gaubatz says. “The sites at a minimum should have been searched when I and my team identified them. I put my life on the line everyday to go out into Iraq. Many troops did lose their lives. If one of the primary reasons we went to war was because of Saddam having WMDs, we should have done our jobs and excavated the sites before our enemy did.”

One congressman who supports Gaubatz on the record is Rep. Virgil Goode, a Republican whose U.S. House seat represents a district in southern Virginia where Gaubatz grew up. In an interview, Goode says he remembered mentioning WMDs to the House Intelligence Committee, but his inquiries—like so many—went nowhere.

“I believe he saw something,” Goode said of Gaubatz. “I think a whole lot of members of Congress have bought the national news media line that there were no WMDs there.”

Four years into the war, Gaubatz says, “The Republicans want to forget this. They don’t want to know if there were WMDs because if there were, they blew it and the WMDs are not accounted for.”

“And the Democrats have Bush in a hot box. Why would they want to change that?”

– Katharine Harris contributed to this report.

 

Resources:

— “I found Saddam’s WMD bunkers,” The Spectator, April 20, 2007

 

— “I found Saddam’s WMD bunkers,” full article, MelaniePhillips.com

 

— “Ex-Officer Spurned on WMD Claim,” New York Sun, Feb. 8, 2006

 

— United Nations Security Council Report, May 28, 2004

 

— “UN inspectors: Saddam shipped out WMD before war and after,” WorldTribune.com, June 11, 2004

 

— “Report: U.S suspects Iraqi WMD in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley,” WorldTribune.com, Aug. 26, 2003

 

— “Russia tied to Iraq’s missing arms,” The Washington Times, Oct. 28, 2004

 

— “Photos point to removal of weapons,” The Washington Times, Oct. 29, 2004
— “2 Russian generals given awards in Iraq on war eve,” The Washington Times, Oct. 30, 2004

 

— “Pentagon ousts official who tied Russia, Iraq arms,” The Washington Times, Dec. 30, 2004  also:

 

This Ain’t Right

“Saludos y Bienvenidos al sitio de la campaña para Presidente de los EEUU del Gobernado Bill Richardson. Mi nombre es Joaquín Guerra y estoy muy orgulloso de estar aquí con ustedes en nuestra blog. Aquí vas a encontrar los primeros noticias de la campaña desde el camino real por la campaña por la Presidencia de los EEUU…”

Why Do Rush And Sean Scare Them So?

Why Do Rush And Sean Scare Them So?

 

Radio station WIOD, AM 610, has been the official channel for emergency information from Broward County government for the past year. The County Commission, all Democrats, balked at renewing the deal Tuesday, unable to stomach the station also being home to [Rush] Limbaugh’s talk show.

And so we reach the inevitable end of the left’s campaign against the First Amendment. The Democrats in Broward County have officially declared themselves as the anti-free speech party. Commissioner Ritter is to be applauded for her candor, for declaring openly what elected Democrats across the country mutter quietly to themselves: “Rush, Sean and the rest must be silenced!”

I have heard of brass-knuckled politics before, but never anything on the order of denying your political opponents news of approaching hurricanes.

When Katrina struck, some wild-eyed lefties accused President Bush of denying relief efforts to New Orleans because the city was predominantly African-American.

Now we have actual proof of Democrats wanting to keep conservatives in the dark about approaching storms.

Go read the rest. Clearly the Leftinistra are delusional.

GREAT piece Hugh, as usual.

More On Illegal Immigration Amnesty

Polls On Immigration

I have said my piece about Immigration on three separate posts listed below:

Immigration Bill Dies: Try ENFORCEMENT

Illegal Immigration: ENFORCING OUR LAWS

Continuing with Immigration Thread

The titles alone should tell you that I think we should enforce the freaking laws we already have instead of creating more laws that will conflict with the existing laws.

With all that said, I am not the only one that feels this way, not at all.

Today Rasmussen came out with a polls that shows that only 20% of American voters wish to see this new immigration bill do anything but die a natural death.

69% of voters favors securing our borders only approach or as Rasmussen puts it:

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters would favor an approach that focuses exclusively on “exclusively on securing the border and reducing illegal immigration.” Support for the enforcement only approach comes from 84% of Republicans, 55% of Democrats, and 69% of those not affiliated with either major party.

[…]

The Senate immigration reform bill that failed last week was far more popular in Congress than among the American people. It was strongly opposed by a cross-section of the nation’s voters. At the end, just 23% of voters favored the legislation.

Those in favor of the new Amnesty immigration bill will wave that poll away saying “its only one poll”.

WRONG!!!!!! (HUGE BUZZER SOUND HERE)

This Rasmussen polls simply backs up the latest Fox News poll done on June 7th and those that also wish to wave that one away can also see that in April on the 24th there was also a UPI-Zogby International poll done that says basically the same thing.

Fox:

A 58 percent majority says the United States needs to enforce the current laws, while 34 percent think the country’s immigration laws need to be completely overhauled.

Among Republicans, 65 percent think the solution to the illegal immigration problem is to enforce the country’s existing laws, while 62 percent of independents and 50 percent of Democrats feel this way.

UPI-Zogby:

WASHINGTON, April 24 Nearly 60 percent of UPI-Zogby International poll participants said enforcement of current U.S. laws is the best way to fight illegal immigration.

The 5,932 U.S. residents who took part in the Zogby interactive poll April 13-16 clearly consider the enforcement of existing immigration laws a better option over “creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.” Among the existing laws are measures that allow for the deportation of illegal immigrants and the prosecution of people who illegally employ workers.

What a novel concept huh? ENFORCE THE DAMN LAWS WE HAVE.

A letter reprinted at DailyAdvance.com says it perfectly:

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

The new immigration bill being touted by the White House needs to be voted down. This nation is a nation of law. Illegal aliens have broken our laws by entering this country illegally.

Illegal immigrants are often referred to as “undocumented workers.” Would you call drug smugglers and drug dealers “undocumented pharmacists?” I think not! Big corporations are pressuring our representatives in Washington for some type of amnesty for illegal immigrants. Big corporations exploit illegal immigrants as a cheap labor source. The illegal immigrants in turn suppress the wages of our working class because they are willing to work for less than poverty level wages.

The churches are also involved in pressuring for passage of amnesty legislation. Why not help the poor in their own Latin American countries? Wouldn’t it be more fitting to work to bring a higher standard of living to Central and South America rather than subject the masses to labor exploitation in the United States?

Since the year 2000, the Hispanic population in North Carolina has risen by 57 percent. Do you really think that they are all legal? There are an estimated 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants in this country. Think of it: 12 to 20 million.

“How do you deport 12 to 20 million people?” I have heard Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., ask. I say, “How about trying one at a time?” Either we are a nation of laws or we are not.

Please write or call or e-mail your representatives in Washington and tell them to enforce our current immigration laws and control our borders and vote down this latest attempt at amnesty.

CORDY LAVERY

Elizabeth City
(Emphasis mine)

Congressman Sali writes an opinion for AG Weekly that says:

When I travel Idaho’s First Congressional District, one comment I always hear is, “Bill, stand firm in your position on immigration. Do not accept amnesty as a solution to the immigration problem.”

I have heard the message of my constituents, and I wholeheartedly agree. Amnesty is the wrong solution. Amnesty is no solution.

Representing Idahoans in Washington, D.C., has strengthened my resolve. Plainly our immigration problems represent another failing of our federal government, which has not done enough to protect our borders. That is precisely the kind of government failure that I came to fight in Washington.

Illegal immigration is just that, illegal the people who come here illegally are breaking our laws. And we will not continue to be a sovereign, well-ordered society without requiring respect for the rule of law. The law must be respected and obeyed by everyone.

A number of federal agencies are charged with enforcing our immigration, workplace and visa laws. But far too frequently, our federal government has only been consistent in its unwillingness to perform that basic and essential function.

Go read the rest but I am sure you get the point…we need to stop worrying about immigration reform and start enforcing the laws we have on the books…how difficult is this to understand in Washington?

Once in a while we see a story like this where we say, YEAH, thats what needs to be done, but how often? How often do we actually enforce our immigrations law, the laws already on the books? How often do we see stories where the laws of immigration actually get enforced?

Now they want to create new laws that will counter or nullify the old laws so they do not have to enforce the letter of the law.

They are playing a game and trying to appear like they are accomplishing something and hoping that the American people do not notice….guess what?

WE DO, take a look at the polls listed above, not only do we notice, we are telling you straight out…. ENFORCE THE FREAKING LAWS.

We cannot force Congress, Senate and the Administration to do this because as I have stated before, we are a Republic that has a democratic election process and once we cast our votes, we don’t get a say in the laws enacted until another election comes up…but what we can and will do is tell our politicians straight up:

With this important issue, we the votes, we the people, will NOT vote for you and in my case, I will do everything in my limited power to see to it that others do not vote for you also if you even attempt to pass this travesty of an immigration bill before you FULLY enforce the laws already on the books.

I will work continuously, donate profusely to your opponents, blog every day and remind people of your votes.

This is my promise and as one of those that can claim the status of “we the people”, I assure you, OUR power, which we only get during elections, will indeed be felt on election day.

 

Well written and stated Spree.  This goes right along with JB Williams’ rant,  which I truly agree with wholeheartedly.

Idiots and Illegal Immigration Amnesty

The picture says it all.  (Stolen from Miss Beth.)

Message to Bush

Afghanistan Says 26 Taliban Killed in South

Surely, Allah is running out of virgins!  And,  if Muhammad is with Allah,  the virgins have been de-virginized already…especially if they were under 16 years old.

 FNC

KABUL, Afghanistan —  Two operations in a volatile southern Afghanistan province killed 26 Taliban militants, including several commanders, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Thursday.

• More coverage of the struggle for stability is available in FOXNews.com’s Afghanistan Center.

Twenty “enemies” were killed in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province on Wednesday, while eight were injured, the ministry said. In the nearby district of Zhari, six Taliban fighters were killed, it said.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force confirmed a clash in Shah Wali Kot but said it had no details.