Author: TSO

I was trolling around “Courage to Resist” today reading up on the completely full of shite Mom deserter story, when I came upon this asshole.

U.S. army deserter Rodney Watson has become the first fugitive from service in Iraq to enter church sanctuary in Canada. Monday morning, the 31-year-old told reporters he has been living in refuge at the First United Church in Vancouver since Sept. 18. “I don’t believe it will be just for me to be deported,” said Watson, flanked by church ministers and supporters. Watson lost his refugee claim on Sept. 11, and was expecting to be deported back to the U.S., where he faces jail for refusing to do a second tour of duty in Iraq.

I love this clown’s story. Just watch this:

A couple of problems I have with this.
1) The timing doesn’t work out. See, he claims he was stop-lossed, but he deserted before he could stop loss, i.e. before his initial 3 year enlistment was up. This is what it says on the video:
Rodney served a tour of duty in Iraq and completed his full three-year contract before being stop-lossed and involuntarily re-enlisted, via this back-door draft, to be sent back to Iraq by the U.S. military.

Listen to him discuss his story, and you will see that his timing couldn’t possibly be accurate.

2) Gives us some specifics Rodney, I promise you I will contact the Army and look into the claims of abuse and Koran spitting. I can’t help but think this smacks of the type of story you learned from your buddy Joshua Key. (An Army of Ro-Bots!)

3) You siring a kid out of wedlock with some Canadian whore is really not germane. If you had been a bit more responsible it might have occurred to you that having a kid while your immigration status is up in the air really isn’t all that fair to the kid. But, I read elsewhere that the kid is already in a foster home, so that particular bit of heart-warming defiance on behalf of a kid that is no longer yours smacks of opportunism.

Just like all the other shitweasels that run away rather than face the consequences of their choices, Rodney chose to run away, and then pull at the heartstrings in an attempt to avoid doing the time. Good luck with that. I hope it costs that Church an arm and a leg to keep you there. I love how all these characters are doing the right thing, the brave thing, and yet not a one of them feels like actually being a martyr by going to jail. What happened to honoring the strength of your convictions? Guess you would rather take advantage of liberal do gooders than actually have to suffer for your conscience.

Go take the test.

Full Disclosure: I got 1 wrong.

Oh, and put your score in the comments. No cheating now!

H/t VTWoody by way of his Facebook Page.

1) Major Malik Hasan is reported to have shouted “Allahu Akbar” just prior to opening fire. This phrase means:
A) God is great
B) I have PTSD, and I need help
C) The OpTempo is killing us, we need more dwell time
D) I love you Dr. Phil

2) This phrase is most associated with practioners of which religious faith?
A) The muslim faith
B) Mennonites
C) Presbyterians
D) Our Zionist overlords

3) Major Malik Hasan had been sent overseas to fight in our illegal and immoral wars in the Middle East on ___ occasions:
A) Zero, none, nada
B) 1, and it was extended by GWB for an additional 6 months
C) 2, he worked in the motor pool
D) Who can keep track at this point?

4) Major Malik Hasan reportedly compared _____’s to heroes who jump on grenades?
A) Suicide Bombers
B) Battalion S1 staffs on the 1st and the 15th of each month
C) Shoppers at the Mall of America
D) Left Wing bloggers

5) On the morning of the attack, Major Malik Hasan is reported to have passed out copies of which book:
A) The holy Koran
B) The latest Harry Potter Book
C) Born Fighting, a History of the Scots Irish by Jim Webb
D) Latest version of the Dungeon Masters Guide

6) The most important thing to take away from this tragedy is:
A) That regardless of any other issue, religion, race or creed, an unstable man did something horrific, and our hearts and prayers must be with the families of the fallen
B) Dr Phil and others got to spread the light on PTSD issues, and how returning vets are completely unstable
C) Veterans For Common Sense is bereft of any common sense
D) We need to clamp down on right wing military bloggers who got their hands on this guys ORB.

Everyone back up 2 steps and relax. I am not saying that any group or race or religion is exclusively responsible for terrorism, nor am I saying that all practioners of any religion are by default terrorists.

What I am saying though is that even as CNN for 5 hours refused to speculate on a religious motivation, they were discussing PTSD and the effect on returning veterans. Can we get beyond the PC nonsense and just call a spade a spade? This guy was a degenerate who did horrible things, and no group of people is responsible, not Muslims, and certainly not our brothers and sisters who suffer from PTSD. Why is it okay to ascribe this to one group with no evidence, and yet not okay to discuss the other when there is a plethora of evidence?

Via VoteVets, I found this posting by Spencer Ackerman:

Ft. Hood’s commander, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, said today that there are unconfirmed reports that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shouted “God is great” in Arabic before opening fire yesterday at the Army base. Again: we will soon be able to hear Hasan’s motivations in his own words. Even if he shouted such a thing, it would no more reflect on his co-religionists than does the fanatic who murdered Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller and who happened to consider himself a devout Christian does on his co-religionists. It’s worth remembering that nearly all mass shootings in this country are committed by white men. Do we have a white-man problem on our hands?

Now, I would like to point out that the same people pushing this line are the same ones who defended the DHS memo. The murder of Dr. Tiller was used as justification that the DHS report on “Right Wing Extremism” was accurate, and yet Mr. Ackerman is saying that Hasan’s actions do not reflect his co-religionists.

The thing about most mass shootings happening by White Men seems to me to not be accurate, but either way, not really germane. the Beltway Sniper, the shootings in Arkansas etc were not white men, right? It seems that both sides (myself included) are doing the same thing here in leaping to conclusions.

Chris Raissi had some excellent points yesterday, and I concede them to him. It was perhaps wrong to note this guys religious background so early, yea though the evidence is still bolstering that as the likely motive. Chris though thought I was basing it entirely on his last name, which is justified perhaps by the sloppy manner in which I stated my case. Mea culpa on all that, it was a rather emotional time, and I am on a ton of pain killers, so I wasn’t making my case too succinctly.

For the record, there was a lot of info out there to justify the “lone jihadi” theory, I just didn’t put any of it in here. For one reason, we seemed to be getting WAY off track with some veering into racial areas. I am ridiculously uncomfortable with such talk. For me it wasn’t race, it was religious ideology. For the same reason that discussing the perfidy of John Walker Lindh wasn’t racial, it was religious.

My anger stems from one thing. CNN. Even as evidence poured in that this had NOTHING to do with PTSD, CNN still pushed that meme. If a GWOT veteran goes in to apply for a job, I don’t want his perspective employer thinking “Man, you keep hearing about these guys with PTSD shooting places up, I should avoid this guy.” It’s unfair, it’s unjust, and it’s just not accurate. So why do they keep pushing it?

Is veterans status the last acceptable place to engage in prejudice?

CNN, Larry King (barely a)live. Shoshanna Johnson (former POW), Dr Phil, and some JAG officer that I would pronounce my gayness for if I knew who he was.

Paraphrasing here, but the JAG said: As I sit here listening to all this psycho-babble crap, with you guys talking about PTSD nonstop, how come not once have you guys hit on this guys last name being “Hasan” and discuss Islamofacism.

Phil and Shoshanna lose their minds, accuse him of racism, general mayhem, etc.

Best TV moment I ever witnessed.

I have it on DVR, but not sure how to actually save it.

From my Battle Buddy, Southern Dem/WVbyGod, and a host of other names:
“Occam’s Razor.”

Hey Dahr, go fuck yourself.

The soldier says that the mood on the base is “very grim,” and that even before this incident, troop morale has been very low.

“I’d say it’s at an all-time low – mostly because of Afghanistan now,” he explained. “Nobody knows why we are at either place, and I believe the troops need to know why they are there, or we should pull out, and this is a unanimous feeling, even for folks who are pro-war.”

[…]

While soldiers returning home are routinely involved in shootings, suicide and other forms of self-destructive violent behavior as a direct result of their experiences in Iraq, we have yet to see an event of this magnitude take place in Iraq.

[…]

Mark Thompson also has reported in Time magazine, “Data contained in the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of US troops taken last fall, about 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.”

In April 2008, the RAND Corporation released a stunning report revealing, “Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan – 300,000 in all – report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment.”

Once again for the cheap seats.

This smoker of poles DID NOT SERVE OVERSEAS. You want a reason for the shooting? At least make an effort to find one that fits the facts.

Despite all the evidence this guy never deployed and was in fact a mental health professional, CNN is gamely driving on by interviewing a psychiatrist about the mental health issues faced by returning veterans.

HEY SHITDICKS- look at the actual shooter and stop maligning my brothers and sisters in arms who served overseas.

Fuckers. If Shep Smith’s girl eyes didn’t freak me out I would switch to Fox.