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Category: VoteVets

  • Alexander says we’re as bad as the Khmer Rouge

    Our favorite Air Force interrogator, Matthew Alexander, is writing at Vote Vets again. This time he says he’s been to a Khmer Rouge prison in Cambodia – and of course it reminds him of Guantanamo and the way we treated the folks we detained there.

    It is estimated that nearly 3 million people were executed during the Khmer Rouge’s purge of Cambodian society. It’s hard not to walk through the Tuol Sleng prison and read about the atrocities and not think about the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Although Gitmo has never come close to the scale and depth of what happened at Tuol Sleng, there are disturbing similarities.

    One of those “disturbing similarities”;

    The entire operation at Tuol Sleng was tightly controlled by the Khmer Rouge high command (they eventually even executed the torturers, cycling in new ones, fearing that they were contaminated by their proximity to the prisoners). Duch, the infamous Tuol Sleng warden who is currently on trial in Cambodia for crimes against humanity, took his orders directly from Pol Pot.

    Yeah, I remember Cheney ordering the guards at Gitmo murdered. Don’t you? Another “similarity”;

    The second thing that strikes you about Tuol Sleng is that many of its victims were children. Judging from the photos of the victims on display, some of them couldn’t have been older than five. The Khmer Rouge exterminated offspring of opposition members like pests. They were concerned that subversive tendencies would be inherited. At the Guantanamo Bay prison, the U.S. continues to hold minors under the age of eighteen. It is a barbaric practice.

    Yeah, there’s no difference between 5 years old and eighteen. And if I’m not mistaken, there are no more eighteen-year-olds at Guantanamo. Matthews’ experience as an interrogator lasted four months, according to his records and the extent of his experience was as a team leader who conducted few, if any, of the actual interviews. Matthews never went to Guantanamo – all of his stories are secondhand rumors, but that doesn’t stop him from using those stories in his book, or on Vote Vets for that matter;

    There is a sign depicting the rules for prisoners, called the Security Regulations, and rule number six reads: “While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.” That reminded me of the infamous sign at the Baghdad airport prison, allegedly used by Special Forces, which read, “No Blood, No Foul.”

    (Emphasis mine) Allegedly? Really? That’s a faithful telling of the tale?

    I guess it’s no wonder that at the AFOSI convention a few weeks back, when his fellow OSIs found out who Matthew Alexander really was and that this particular major was working for George Soros and the ACLU, he was a bit of an outcast. I wonder who put the word out about him.

  • The depth of Soltz’ intellect

    If ever there was someone who should be stripped of his veteran status, it’s Jon Soltz, the dork who is the public face of VoteVets, and mostly likely the guy who saddled the organization with it’s stupid name. The following is from his latest missive;

    The failed bombing of a Detroit-bound airplane by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has raised a ton of questions – from what holes there are in airline security, to how he wasn’t picked up before on suspicion of terrorist activity. But, to me and the forces in or heading to Afghanistan, one of the most pressing questions is why we’re sending nearly every Marine and Soldier we have to Afghanistan, when Abdulmutallab and a Somali man arrested for plotting a similar attack last month apparently had no real connection to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

    There you have – the depth of Soltz’ intellect. Because one guy almost bombed Detroit with his underwear, we should abandon the war in Afghanistan. Makes sense to me.

    …given the ability of al-Qaeda to spread and pop up in areas around the globe where we are not present, it simply doesn’t make sense anymore to engage in a long-term counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan, which focuses on beating back insurgents rather than al Qaeda, and securing the country at large.

    Now, I was never a motor officer in a combat situation for over four months, so I don’t have the “big picture” skills necessary to see the war from that vantage point, but I don’t think that we should change our entire strategy against al Qaeda because of one attack. How much of a simpleton must one be to think we should? In fact, if Soltz’ presidential choice (who is not a veteran, by the way) had forced his administration to pay attention to the warning signs, the underwear bomber wouldn’t have gotten through the layers of security.

    Besides, in the grand strategy of Obama, troop deployment numbers don’t matter, because the war against terror is now fought by the Justice Department and the law enforcement agencies. Didn’t Soltz get the message?

  • Naivete, thy name is Kate Hoit

    I read this article last night in the Stars and Stripes, thought about commenting, then changed my mind. Until this morning when I saw that Kate Hoit, one of the newest bloggers at Vote Vets decided to write about it. Basically, the article and the policy are very simple – women in combat shouldn’t get pregnant and Major General Anthony Cucolo, the commander of Multi-National Division-North, Iraq, decided to make it a command policy and threatened his command with court martials for violating that policy.

    gi-kate2

    Ms. Hoit writes;

    Should soldiers be wise when partaking in sexual activities? Of course. Use a condom. Get on birth control. Emergency contraception should be readily available (which it seems we are fighting for now). I learned about sex education in 6th grade. If I don’t want a bundle of joy I’m not going to have sex, or I’m going to use a condom, or I’m going to take a pill everyday at 12:30pm. If I’m serving in Iraq or Afghanistan I’m going to put my mission first. I’m going to do everything possible to not get pregnant. Maj. Gen. Cucolo III is naive for thinking he can solve the pregnancy problem by banning it. What soldiers need is a shot of common sense.

    Um, common sense like engaging in the practice of abstention? Condoms fail, but abstention works every time it’s tried. I know VoteVets’ official policy is that gays can’t be expected to control themselves in this new world in which everybody is screwing everyone else at every opportunity – but this is war, for Pete’s sake.

    I’m not so naive that I think sex doesn’t happen in war, but making pregnancy a crime seems a good way to prevent a practice that is costly for the military, and unhealthy for it’s participants (I don’t think I would have wanted have sex with any woman who wanted sex with unkept, unbathed me when I was in Iraq).

    Ms. Hoit acts like there’s no choice in sexual activity. Although, I’ll admit that there are probably instances in which the woman has no choice, however, I suspect that’s not the case in most instances. If there are as many rapes in the military as many claim, this policy should increase the reporting rates, shouldn’t it? And that’s good, right?

    Somehow, mentioning that this is the 21st century and insinuating that casual sex was invented in Ms. Hoit’s lifetime seems to be the height of naivete. Calling a military policy which is aimed at the health and readiness of military members naive is just ignorant.

    And, oh, Kayla Williams, since I know you keep an eye on this blog for the mention of your name, if I hadn’t made a promise to one of our mutual friends, I’d be tearing you up, too. That promise is wearing thin.

  • VoteVets: Medicare buy in helps veterans

    I hate to keep harping on the folks at VoteVets (who am I kidding?), but the other day, dicksmith made the most absurd assumption I’ve ever read. In his article he claims that unless there’s a medicare buy-in provision in the health care bill, veterans will suffer.

    Another group that this will hurt greatly is veterans. A recent study out of Harvard found that 2,266 veterans died last year because they did not have health insurance. This is more than 14 times then number of deaths suffered by US troops in Afghanistan in 2008. Without the Medicare buy-in, thousands of Vietnam era veterans-who fall precisely in this age range-will not be able to afford healthcare coverage.

    For one thing, that Harvard study which concluded that 2266 veterans died last year from a lack of health care is completely manufactured. From what I’ve read about the study, it was taken from a small sampling and extrapolated across the entire population, ending up with an entirely made up number – instead of actually counting dead bodies. That’s twice in two weeks someone at VoteVets has used that study to scare their readers into backing the health care plan in Congress.

    As far as Vietnam veterans not getting health care as a result of the buy-in going down to defeat, that’s ridiculous. The only veterans who can’t get VA health care are folks without a service-connected disability who make enough money to buy their own insurance. If they can afford their own insurance, why would they want to buy into Medicare? And if a veteran is poor, how can he afford to BUY IN to Medicare?

    Of course, dicksmith goes right off the rails answering my comments with some crap about the Air Force being unconstitutional without answering the main thrust of my points. I don’t how the buy-in part shoots right over his head. How is a veteran with no money going to afford a buy-in? I guess that sort of pretzel logic is what Soltz requires from his bloggers so they can support the Democrat/Soros agenda.

  • The ACLU on “Gitmo North”

    Mathew Alexander the interrogator emeritus of Vote Vets explains “Why Transferring Detainees to Illinois Keeps Us Safe” over there today.

    I support the President’s decision to transfer detainees to Guantanamo Bay. It’s time to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison and undercut one of Al Qaida’s main recruiting tools. In Iraq in 2006, while overseeing interrogations of Al Qaida foreign fighters, I listened time and time again to their reasons for coming to Iraq to fight — the torture and abuse of detainees at Guantanamo bay and Abu Ghraib.

    Yes, we know, Mathew, that tale is posted all over Washington DC’s subway platforms sponsored by a George Soros-funded organization. It really doesn’t matter what the al Qaeda foreign fighters said to you – they lie, that’s why they’re being interrogated. If they didn’t lie, they’d be leading special forces teams against al-Qaeda.

    But irrespective of Alexander’s absurd pronouncements, he’s currently working for the American Civil Liberties Union, and they aren’t as impressed with the Obama Administration’s actions today, calling Thomson, IL Gitmo, Illinios;

    Reports indicate that Thomson will be the new home for detainees the government has no intention of releasing or bringing to trial. It’s the return of that “fifth category” of detainees President Obama described in his national security speech last May, those “who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, in some cases because evidence may be tainted, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States.” The Obama administration—like the Bush administration—has maintained that it has the right to hold detainees without charge or trial under the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

    It is estimated that as many as 75 detainees could potentially be part of this fifth category.

    But as we pointed out last year, a policy of indefinite detention is unnecessary and unwise, and would give the president carte blanche to break the law—something we’ve all seen enough of from the past administration.

    So, what the ACLU has advocated is the release of dangerous detainees. They compound this idiocy in a press release entitled “Creating a ‘Gitmo North’ an Alarming Step“;

    “The creation of a ‘Gitmo North’ in Illinois is hardly a meaningful step forward. Shutting down Guantánamo will be nothing more than a symbolic gesture if we continue its lawless policies onshore.

    “Alarmingly, all indications are that the administration plans to continue its predecessor’s policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial for some detainees, with only a change of location. Such a policy is completely at odds with our democratic commitment to due process and human rights whether it’s occurring in Cuba or in Illinois. In fact, while the Obama administration inherited the Guantánamo debacle, this current move is its own affirmative adoption of those policies.

    So, there you have it. The Left and the ACLU want nothing less than the immediate and unsupervised release of at least 75 dangerous terrorists, prisoners from the battlefields of our nation’s war. Regardless of the chance that they’ll kill more innocent people again, the ACLU chooses the rights of criminals over the rights of their prospective victims.

    Nothing can placate the ACLU short of releasing terrorists into our midst, nothing will placate those al Qaeda foreign fighters that Alexander believes joined because of Guantanamo short of returning their soldiers to the ranks of al Qaeda. So why are we doing it? To make ourselves feel better? To make the “civilized world” feel better about us?

    To lead our people to slaughter?

  • Gitmo-on-Spring Lake (Updated)

    Rumors over the last few weeks that the Obama Administration is planning on renovating a prison in Thomson, IL to house Guantanamo detainees are proving to be true;

    Administration officials as well as Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will make an official announcement at the White House.

    Officials from both the White House and Durbin’s office confirmed that President Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a sleepy town near the Mississippi River about 150 miles from Chicago. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting Tuesday’s announcement.

    So now the hippies, the ACLU lawyers, Mathew Alexander, Code Pink, Keith Olbermann and the sundry other peawits all have a place they can go camp out to prove their commitment to human rights for subhumans.

    Residents of the small town feel that it’s worth it to house the most terrible criminals in the world so close to the families;

    “This town is slowly but surely dying off, and I mean that literally because the people that are retired are dying off and there’s no young people coming back in to take their place. There’s nothing here to draw them,” said Richard Groharing, a 68-year-old retired Florida corrections officer who was born in Thomson, a farming community about 150 miles west of Chicago.

    The prison was built in 2001 with the promise of thousands of jobs. But because of state budget problems, it has been largely vacant since its completion. It has 1,600 cells, but only about 200 minimum-security inmates are held there.

    I hope Thomson IL residents are ready to assume the mantle as the worse place on earth when Guantanamo is closed. Of course, the ambulance-chasers will probably double the town’s population and bring in some money. At what price?

    ADDED: Of course, dicksmith at VoteVets thinks this is a good idea;

    Outstanding. The Obama Administration is taking a step closer to ending the use of a facility that has been one of the most effective recruiting tools for extremism and terrorism across the globe. Not only that, it’s simply the right thing to do.

    Yes, the rest of the world will automatically think that we’re treating detainees well just because they’re in Illinois now. How the Hell will that change anything? Seriously. If we put them all up in a Las Vegas hotel, THAT would become part of the new recruiting cry from terrorists, you dumbass.

    I swear, is there anyone on the Left with an ounce of common sense anymore? Has every single thing they say become just a knee-jerk reaction?

  • Put your money where your mouth is, Soltz

    For some reason, yesterday Jon Soltz at VetsVoice decided he’d give thanks to the troops on Thanksgiving by complaining that some of them are doing too many deployments to our War Against Terror.

    While I agree, I think it’s a bit disingenuous of an Army Reserve captain still on duty to type an angry missive about the over-extension of our forces when he’s only done ONE three month tour of Iraq way back in 2003 followed by a grueling 13 month tour of Fort Dix, NJ teaching other motor pool queens and DA Form 2404 filers how to adapt their skills to a sandy motor pool.

    It seems to me that if Soltz is so worried about the number of deployments some of his “peers” are making, he’d throw himself into the mix and volunteer to take some pressure off of them. I mean, he’s got six years of “dwell time”.

    Me? I volunteered for the Retiree Mobilization back in 2006 when the Army called my Army Reserve niece, a mother of two pre-schoolers, wife of a OIF Marine veteran, to deploy. I figured if they needed her, they’d need me. I just haven’t been fortunate enough to be accepted yet.

    Step up, Soltz. Be a man for once.

  • Soltz on his knees

    VoteVets’ Jon Soltz crawls out from under President Obama’s desk long enough to fire off an angry missive at the Republican Party – you know, like a good non-partisan that he is;

    I never thought Sarah Palin could say something that would leave me totally speechless, but this time, she’s done it.  Reports Politico:

    Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday accused President Barack Obama of not acknowledging the sacrifices made by the men and women in the U.S. military.

    “There’s been a lack of acknowledgement by our president in understanding what it is that the American military provides in terms of, obviously, the safety, the security of our country,” Palin said during an interview with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren. “I want him to acknowledge the sacrifices that these individual men and women – our sons, our daughters, our moms, our dads, our brothers and sisters – are providing this country to keep us safe.”

    Hasn’t acknowledged their sacrifices?  Seriously?  What’s this look like?

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