Recently the US Army announced that women will be allowed to undergo Ranger training if they qualify for the rigorous physical training requirements. The US Army has allowed women to receive airborne (parachute) training for quite sometime now, as long as the Marines have allowed women in the Corps. However, women in the US Army Airborne units and the US Marines do not serve in combat capacity. No women are assigned to rifle companies and most certainly none serve in Recon units, Hollywood movies and TV action dramas notwithstanding! So, it appears that although women may receive Ranger training, they will not be serving in Ranger Battalions, at least not in combat roles. Women are not yet allowed in the Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, the Marine Force Recon or MARSOC. They can be assigned to these units to serve in administrative units, but not in operational units.
Russians have allowed women to serve in combat (out of necessity, due to shortage of men during WWII), and other countries, most notably, Israel, has always allowed women in combat roles. However, in most cases, women served in separate units, not integrated with men when it came to combat. The only exception were always the women snipers, who served along side male snipers. As previously noted, Russia produced some exceptional women snipers. Israel, since about 2000 has integrated some women into their elite commando unit that operates in very small groups. So far there have not been any problems and those Israeli women that wish to serve in elite units such as their Parachute Brigade or the special commando unit may do so, if they qualify.
Last year, in a blog entitled "The 'Miscellaneous Group'," I described the special operations program during the Korean War. It was run by the US 8th Army and the HQs FE Command, although there were British and Australian participants as trainers. The unit that trained the so-called United Nations Partisan Forces in Korea, or UNPFK were the early Army Special Forces members and they trained Korean volunteers to fight as guerrillas in North Korea. This unit was called the 8240th Army Unit with a much longer, cumbersome title of Combined Command Reconnaissance Activities (Korea). Most of the time the UNPFK units infiltrated into North Korea by parachute, sometimes by boat, and rarely overland. Among these Korean volunteers, there were many women. Women were mostly used as agents to infiltrate into North Korea to gather intelligence and they worked under a program that was euphemistically called Korean Liaison Office or KLO. However, there were also those that trained and fought as guerrillas. I gave a very brief account of one such mission that bears repeating.
Two women, ages 18 and 20, were parachuted into North Korea just outside of Wonsan to gather intelligence and blow up a train depot. They accomplished their mission and took photos for proof with cameras that each carried. As they were getting ready to ex-filtrate, they were surrounded by an 18 man North Korean patrol. The women, as it happened, were the two best shots in their unit, especially the younger 18 year old! She was the best shot of all, including the men of the unit! They were each armed with an M-1 Carbine and 45 rounds of ammunition, 38 caliber revolver (the trainers felt that the 45 caliber automatic was too big for them) with just 12 rounds of ammunition, and two hand grenades. With this meager armament, the two wiped out the entire 18 man patrol! Then, the 18 year old, to make sure there was a record of what they did, took photos of the North Koreans that they killed! They managed to reach the coast and the rendezvous point where they stayed hidden until a submarine picked them up that night.
Their American bosses were absolutely thrilled by what the two had accomplished. However, since all of the missions were highly classified, none of this was made public until the 1990s! Although their heroics could not be made public, still, the story circulated around the UNPFK units and among everyone involved in that secret war. North Korea, on the other hand, released a news bulletin that a "large" group of saboteurs had attempted to blow up a train depot but were all hunted down and killed by the heroic members of the People's Army! However, the 8240th Army Unit and the UNPFK knew otherwise! They had photographic proof of what the two young women accomplished. Very quickly they made up leaflets and dropped them in the area where the train depot used to be and informed the North Korean population that there was no "large" group of saboteurs, just two women, and they were alive and well, while 18 North Korean soldiers were dead! It was a propaganda coup!
Today, the Republic of Korea maintains that tradition of having women warriors carrying out dangerous missions. They have a special unit of women who are highly trained for special operations. Who knows, perhaps some of these exceptional young women are granddaughters of those brave women who fought as guerrillas during the Korean War!
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Sunday, April 12, 2015
A "New" America?
Yesterday a "historic" meeting took place in Panama between Raul Castro, the President of Cuba and Barak Obama, the President of the United States. It was "historic" in more sense than one. Aside from being the first meeting between a Cuban and a U.S. president in more than half a century, it was "historic" because Raul Castro took the opportunity to criticize and castigate the United States for almost 50 minutes (he was allotted 6 minutes, which he obviously ignored!) while Barak Obama sat by meekly listening to the Cuban lambast and accuse the U.S. of all sorts of wrong doing! These marathon speeches by both Fidel and Raul Castro are nothing new, and actually criticizing the U.S. for 50 minutes is not such a long time, considering that both he and his brother have given 2 or 3 hour speeches lambasting the U.S. in the past, including at a UN session. But to do this with the President of the United States sitting right next to him, that was something new and unexpected.
At the end of his long tirade, Raul Castro turned to Obama and "apologized," saying that he did not blame Obama for all of America's wrong doing, that all the "bad" things were done by his predecessors, that he believed Obama was an "honest" man! The media, of course, immediately seized upon Raul's "apology" and pointed out how "sincere" and "emotional" he had been! What a crock! Castro, no doubt realized that he had gone a bit too far, so he quickly tried to gloss over it with his "apology." It was so obvious, but the media chose to present it as a genuine apology on Castro's part!
Obama in turn, responded by saying that he did not believe in looking at the past, that he only looked "forward!" In short, he completely separated himself from America's past, America's history. He, Barak Obama, was going to establish a "new" United States of America, one that has no ties to its history, to its past. The President of the United States of America, the most powerful country in the world, sat by meekly while a true "Banana (communist) Republic" leader lambasted America for 50 minutes! Then the American President says that he doesn't worry about the past (especially since, according to Castro all the bad things were done by Obama's predecessors!), and that he is only concerned about the future! I don't get it, are we employing some sort of a new clever strategy?.
I don't know how many Americans who watched this play out on CNN or other networks caught what Obama was saying, but I certainly did! I have said repeatedly before that one of the biggest mistakes that we seem to make time and again is to ignore history, to not look at what took place before. We are what our history made us, to ignore our past is to ignore our very existence, our core values! Yes we made many mistakes in the past, but we are supposed to learn from those mistakes, not ignore them! It is bad enough that we do seem to ignore our mistakes of the past, but to ignore everything of the past as Obama suggested, is inconceivable. It is to deny who we are, what we stand for.
I am not against normalizing relations with Cuba. But like our dealings with Iran, it should not be a one way street. So far, all of the advantages go to Cuba. What have we gotten so far? Cuba has already benefitted from various restrictions that have been lifted, restrictions that were not part of the sanctions. It seems like a repeat of the so called "Iran Deal." We have gotten absolutely nothing in return except to be castigated, chastised, and embarrassed in front of the world audience by Raul Castro for 50 minutes. To us, and to those of the developed world perhaps it does not have much of a significance. But to the developing world, particularly in Latin America, it has huge implications.
In the eyes of the typical disaffected Latin American, the gringo president sat by meekly while the president of a small Latin country criticized and chastised America. To the average campesino or cholo, Castro might have as well just slapped Obama or spit in his face, that is how they see things, very simplistically! Of course, many will say that such an interpretation of this event is an overreaction. No doubt that is how the media as well as many others see it. But believe me, it is not an overreaction. I think I know something of the Latin American mentality, and I can assure you that they do not see things the same way as the typical American.
Some said that Raul Castro was worst than his brother Fidel. Fidel was more charismatic, more of a politician given to long-winded marathon speeches. Raul was always the military commander, in fact, before replacing his brother as president of Cuba in 2008, he was the longest sitting Minister of Defense or the head of all military! Raul is known to be cruel and ruthless. He was directly responsible with the execution of 700 pro Batista officers as soon as he and Fidel came into power. Raul was recruited by Soviet KGB in 1953, years before the revolution. He has kept close ties with the KGB and even spent time in Moscow receiving training. Why do I mention all this? Well, once a KGB man, always a KGB man! Witness Vladimir Putin, he started his career as KGB, and still acts like KGB! So, if anyone thinks that Raul will change and human rights violations will not take place anymore, think again!
Cuba has been responsible for all of leftist insurgency movements in Latin America since the 1960s. They are State Sponsors of Terrorism, a label that they, like Iran, would very much like to have removed. Cuba is in Latin America what Iran is in the Middle East. Cuba has also ventured outside Latin America, most notably into Africa, Angola being a good example! Before the fall of the Soviet Union, they acted as Soviet's proxy in many parts of the world. They have sponsored many, many terror groups, too many to mention all! Who was in charge of all that before becoming president of the country? Why, Raul Castro! Che Guevara was very charismatic and got credit for many of the early insurgency movements in Latin America. But it was Raul who masterminded and sent Che to launch the insurgencies. So, "Raul" is not a "politician" as we know it. He is much more than that, and very, very dangerous!
But despite all of that, we can normalize relations with Cuba, and after all those years, we should. Cuba needs normalization of relations with us more than we need it. However, we shouldn't give up the store for it, and we most certainly shouldn't do it at the expense of our national prestige, having our president sit by while Raul launches a tirade against us. But then, Obama didn't seem to be too bothered by it all. Apparently, Barak Obama is determined to create a "new" America, one that has no ties to its past!
At the end of his long tirade, Raul Castro turned to Obama and "apologized," saying that he did not blame Obama for all of America's wrong doing, that all the "bad" things were done by his predecessors, that he believed Obama was an "honest" man! The media, of course, immediately seized upon Raul's "apology" and pointed out how "sincere" and "emotional" he had been! What a crock! Castro, no doubt realized that he had gone a bit too far, so he quickly tried to gloss over it with his "apology." It was so obvious, but the media chose to present it as a genuine apology on Castro's part!
Obama in turn, responded by saying that he did not believe in looking at the past, that he only looked "forward!" In short, he completely separated himself from America's past, America's history. He, Barak Obama, was going to establish a "new" United States of America, one that has no ties to its history, to its past. The President of the United States of America, the most powerful country in the world, sat by meekly while a true "Banana (communist) Republic" leader lambasted America for 50 minutes! Then the American President says that he doesn't worry about the past (especially since, according to Castro all the bad things were done by Obama's predecessors!), and that he is only concerned about the future! I don't get it, are we employing some sort of a new clever strategy?.
I don't know how many Americans who watched this play out on CNN or other networks caught what Obama was saying, but I certainly did! I have said repeatedly before that one of the biggest mistakes that we seem to make time and again is to ignore history, to not look at what took place before. We are what our history made us, to ignore our past is to ignore our very existence, our core values! Yes we made many mistakes in the past, but we are supposed to learn from those mistakes, not ignore them! It is bad enough that we do seem to ignore our mistakes of the past, but to ignore everything of the past as Obama suggested, is inconceivable. It is to deny who we are, what we stand for.
I am not against normalizing relations with Cuba. But like our dealings with Iran, it should not be a one way street. So far, all of the advantages go to Cuba. What have we gotten so far? Cuba has already benefitted from various restrictions that have been lifted, restrictions that were not part of the sanctions. It seems like a repeat of the so called "Iran Deal." We have gotten absolutely nothing in return except to be castigated, chastised, and embarrassed in front of the world audience by Raul Castro for 50 minutes. To us, and to those of the developed world perhaps it does not have much of a significance. But to the developing world, particularly in Latin America, it has huge implications.
In the eyes of the typical disaffected Latin American, the gringo president sat by meekly while the president of a small Latin country criticized and chastised America. To the average campesino or cholo, Castro might have as well just slapped Obama or spit in his face, that is how they see things, very simplistically! Of course, many will say that such an interpretation of this event is an overreaction. No doubt that is how the media as well as many others see it. But believe me, it is not an overreaction. I think I know something of the Latin American mentality, and I can assure you that they do not see things the same way as the typical American.
Some said that Raul Castro was worst than his brother Fidel. Fidel was more charismatic, more of a politician given to long-winded marathon speeches. Raul was always the military commander, in fact, before replacing his brother as president of Cuba in 2008, he was the longest sitting Minister of Defense or the head of all military! Raul is known to be cruel and ruthless. He was directly responsible with the execution of 700 pro Batista officers as soon as he and Fidel came into power. Raul was recruited by Soviet KGB in 1953, years before the revolution. He has kept close ties with the KGB and even spent time in Moscow receiving training. Why do I mention all this? Well, once a KGB man, always a KGB man! Witness Vladimir Putin, he started his career as KGB, and still acts like KGB! So, if anyone thinks that Raul will change and human rights violations will not take place anymore, think again!
Cuba has been responsible for all of leftist insurgency movements in Latin America since the 1960s. They are State Sponsors of Terrorism, a label that they, like Iran, would very much like to have removed. Cuba is in Latin America what Iran is in the Middle East. Cuba has also ventured outside Latin America, most notably into Africa, Angola being a good example! Before the fall of the Soviet Union, they acted as Soviet's proxy in many parts of the world. They have sponsored many, many terror groups, too many to mention all! Who was in charge of all that before becoming president of the country? Why, Raul Castro! Che Guevara was very charismatic and got credit for many of the early insurgency movements in Latin America. But it was Raul who masterminded and sent Che to launch the insurgencies. So, "Raul" is not a "politician" as we know it. He is much more than that, and very, very dangerous!
But despite all of that, we can normalize relations with Cuba, and after all those years, we should. Cuba needs normalization of relations with us more than we need it. However, we shouldn't give up the store for it, and we most certainly shouldn't do it at the expense of our national prestige, having our president sit by while Raul launches a tirade against us. But then, Obama didn't seem to be too bothered by it all. Apparently, Barak Obama is determined to create a "new" America, one that has no ties to its past!
Friday, April 10, 2015
"A Pact with the Devil"
Ever since the end of World War Two when America emerged as one of the two leading super powers, it seems that we have been making "pacts with the devil," so-to-speak, backing foreign leaders that were not, as it turned out time and again, the best choices. Part of this proclivity seems to stem from the fact that we don't look far enough ahead and simply want immediate solutions to problems. We want things done right now! We invented fast food, instant photos, one hour dry cleaning, so on and so forth! To America, a decade is a long time, to many older countries, a century would have the same meaning as a decade to us - of course that is an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Why else would our government be constantly making such poor choices in selection of leaders to back in our "nation building" efforts.
It started with our blind support of Chiang Kai Sheik, the Nationalist leader of China. We knew he was corrupt, we knew that he surrounded himself with corrupt and inept individuals, yet we poured-in billions in cash and equipment, all to no avail! It seems everything went downhill from that point. In Vietnam we supported the corrupt Ngo Din Diem, and when things turned sour we engineered a coupe to replace him. His replacements, one after another failed, leading to the total collapse of South Vietnam in 1975. In Latin America, there were too many to mention all in this blog. The most notable disaster was Manuel Noriega, a monster that was our creation! This was someone that we created, nurtured through the years, until he got out of control, so, of course, we got rid of him, at great expense. "Operation Just Cause" cost billions to the American tax payers, and we are still paying, supporting Noriega in prison!
Sometimes, when we make a "pact with the devil," things go sour almost immediately. Such, it seems, is the case with our latest "pact," the Iranian "nuclear deal." As I mentioned in the previous blog, how we perceive things and how Iran views the same thing, tend to be very different. Yesterday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei announced that there would be no deal unless all sanctions are dropped immediately and that there would be absolutely no inspections of "military" nuclear sites. This is completely opposite of what Kerry announced! Obviously, Iran and the U.S. do not see eye to eye. As the Japanese say in a rather quaint manner, this is a case of "rom/paree me" (Rome/Paris eyes), which actually refers to cross-eyes and suggests seeing things in opposite direction! If the talks continue, no doubt there will be some agreement, that is always the case. But we will have to see just how much the U.S. has to give up to get the deal!
As mentioned in the previous blog, we have already paid a hefty price just to have Iran sit down for a talk. We released considerable amount of frozen cash assets (apparently the President can release a certain amount without Congressional approval), and we allowed Iran to enter Iraq to fight ISIS. Essentially, we made it appear to the Arab world that we could not handle ISIS so we let Iran go in and do the job. The taking of Tikrit by Iranians (yes, I know, there were Iraqis involved too!) has boosted their prestige tremendously in that part of the world.
What I think many Americans do not know or realize is that the Iranian forces that are fighting in Iraq, the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, their Special Operations, is led by Qassem Soleimani, a Major General in the Revolutionary Guards and the Commanding Officer of the Quds Force. Just who is Qassem Soleimani? He is the one that engineered and inserted Iranian (Quds Force) militants into Iraq shortly after Saddam Hussein's forces fell apart and Baghdad was taken. Essentially, he started the insurgency in Iraq! He (the Quds Force) taught Iraqi insurgents how to make roadside bombs, the IEDs! Thousands of American soldiers have been killed and maimed by these devices! The Quds Force went to work in Afghanistan as well, joining some of the Taliban groups and teaching them how to build IEDs etc.
Soleimani is called the "Shadow Commander" because he always remains in the background and shuns publicity and public appearances. The Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards is like the old Soviet Communist International, the COMINTERN, which was responsible for spreading Soviet communism in the world. The Quds Force is charged with spreading Iranian influence in the Islamic world by supporting movements that will help drive out foreign interference and influence. It was the Quds Force that created and backed the Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian West Bank. It was the Quds Force that went into Syria when Assad's forces began to lose ground to the rebels. They turned the tide and now the rebels are in trouble. There are currently 3000 Quds Force stationed in Syria, and of course, they are supported by Hezbollah that was brought in as well.
The Quds Force has been in Iraq since the early days of the war, but they were there disguised as "volunteers" for the insurgency movement. Now they are there openly, about 1000 or so. In Yemen the Houthie Rebels are supported by Iran and assisted by not just Quds Force but other elements of the Revolutionary Guards, the so-called Basij Militia, which incidentally is also present in Iraq, disguised as simply "militia." We got kicked out of Yemen by Iranian backed Houthie Rebels. Now, our allies, Saudi Arabia is fighting in Yemen, facing Iranian Quds Force and Iranian backed Houthie Rebels, while we have allied ourselves with Iran in Iraq!
It is difficult to determine just how many terror acts carried out around the world were either directly conduct by Iran or sponsored by Iran, notably the Quds Force. It is said the Soleimani is responsible for just about all of the terror acts around the world that can be linked to Iran, since about 1990, even before he took over command of Quds Force in 1998. It seems, Soleimani is the "devil" with whom we made a pact! It appears that once again our government is only interested in a quickie solution, someone to take care of that nasty problem with ISIS in Iraq. However, we seem to have turned a blind eye to Yemen....and what are we going to do in Syria where Iran is so visible? Our politicians are interested in only raising their stock right now, as for the future, well, the attitude seems to be "let the next guy handle it!"
It started with our blind support of Chiang Kai Sheik, the Nationalist leader of China. We knew he was corrupt, we knew that he surrounded himself with corrupt and inept individuals, yet we poured-in billions in cash and equipment, all to no avail! It seems everything went downhill from that point. In Vietnam we supported the corrupt Ngo Din Diem, and when things turned sour we engineered a coupe to replace him. His replacements, one after another failed, leading to the total collapse of South Vietnam in 1975. In Latin America, there were too many to mention all in this blog. The most notable disaster was Manuel Noriega, a monster that was our creation! This was someone that we created, nurtured through the years, until he got out of control, so, of course, we got rid of him, at great expense. "Operation Just Cause" cost billions to the American tax payers, and we are still paying, supporting Noriega in prison!
Sometimes, when we make a "pact with the devil," things go sour almost immediately. Such, it seems, is the case with our latest "pact," the Iranian "nuclear deal." As I mentioned in the previous blog, how we perceive things and how Iran views the same thing, tend to be very different. Yesterday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei announced that there would be no deal unless all sanctions are dropped immediately and that there would be absolutely no inspections of "military" nuclear sites. This is completely opposite of what Kerry announced! Obviously, Iran and the U.S. do not see eye to eye. As the Japanese say in a rather quaint manner, this is a case of "rom/paree me" (Rome/Paris eyes), which actually refers to cross-eyes and suggests seeing things in opposite direction! If the talks continue, no doubt there will be some agreement, that is always the case. But we will have to see just how much the U.S. has to give up to get the deal!
As mentioned in the previous blog, we have already paid a hefty price just to have Iran sit down for a talk. We released considerable amount of frozen cash assets (apparently the President can release a certain amount without Congressional approval), and we allowed Iran to enter Iraq to fight ISIS. Essentially, we made it appear to the Arab world that we could not handle ISIS so we let Iran go in and do the job. The taking of Tikrit by Iranians (yes, I know, there were Iraqis involved too!) has boosted their prestige tremendously in that part of the world.
What I think many Americans do not know or realize is that the Iranian forces that are fighting in Iraq, the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, their Special Operations, is led by Qassem Soleimani, a Major General in the Revolutionary Guards and the Commanding Officer of the Quds Force. Just who is Qassem Soleimani? He is the one that engineered and inserted Iranian (Quds Force) militants into Iraq shortly after Saddam Hussein's forces fell apart and Baghdad was taken. Essentially, he started the insurgency in Iraq! He (the Quds Force) taught Iraqi insurgents how to make roadside bombs, the IEDs! Thousands of American soldiers have been killed and maimed by these devices! The Quds Force went to work in Afghanistan as well, joining some of the Taliban groups and teaching them how to build IEDs etc.
Soleimani is called the "Shadow Commander" because he always remains in the background and shuns publicity and public appearances. The Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards is like the old Soviet Communist International, the COMINTERN, which was responsible for spreading Soviet communism in the world. The Quds Force is charged with spreading Iranian influence in the Islamic world by supporting movements that will help drive out foreign interference and influence. It was the Quds Force that created and backed the Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian West Bank. It was the Quds Force that went into Syria when Assad's forces began to lose ground to the rebels. They turned the tide and now the rebels are in trouble. There are currently 3000 Quds Force stationed in Syria, and of course, they are supported by Hezbollah that was brought in as well.
The Quds Force has been in Iraq since the early days of the war, but they were there disguised as "volunteers" for the insurgency movement. Now they are there openly, about 1000 or so. In Yemen the Houthie Rebels are supported by Iran and assisted by not just Quds Force but other elements of the Revolutionary Guards, the so-called Basij Militia, which incidentally is also present in Iraq, disguised as simply "militia." We got kicked out of Yemen by Iranian backed Houthie Rebels. Now, our allies, Saudi Arabia is fighting in Yemen, facing Iranian Quds Force and Iranian backed Houthie Rebels, while we have allied ourselves with Iran in Iraq!
It is difficult to determine just how many terror acts carried out around the world were either directly conduct by Iran or sponsored by Iran, notably the Quds Force. It is said the Soleimani is responsible for just about all of the terror acts around the world that can be linked to Iran, since about 1990, even before he took over command of Quds Force in 1998. It seems, Soleimani is the "devil" with whom we made a pact! It appears that once again our government is only interested in a quickie solution, someone to take care of that nasty problem with ISIS in Iraq. However, we seem to have turned a blind eye to Yemen....and what are we going to do in Syria where Iran is so visible? Our politicians are interested in only raising their stock right now, as for the future, well, the attitude seems to be "let the next guy handle it!"
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Our "Deal" with Iran
Sometimes, what is apparent on the surface is really not at all what it seems. This is particularly true when dealing with someone with a different mindset and a different agenda. Take for example our latest "deal" that we struck with Iran. It is really not a "deal" but merely the framework for an agreement that has yet to be signed! But even at this infant stage, there are major differences in how we perceive this "deal" and how the Iranians see it!
Among several major differences shown in the statements released by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, just two issues perfectly illustrate the opposite views. Zarif announced that nuclear cooperation with European countries (what he meant was Russia) will increase and two new nuclear plants will be constructed soon. There was no mention of building additional plants or Iran's cooperation with European countries in the statement released by Kerry. Instead, Kerry announced that Iran will reduce its stockpile of weapons grade uranium, but Iran made no mention of reduction of stockpile! Iran also announced that all sanctions will be immediately dropped as soon as the agreement is signed. Kerry made no mention of dropping the sanctions immediately, instead, he said that the easing of sanctions will be gradual.
It is obvious that Kerry and Zarif are speaking in different languages and appear to have a totally different understanding of the "deal" that they had supposedly reached. That is precisely what I referred to on several occasions before, when I mentioned the difficulty in dealing or negotiating with Islamic countries, who seem to have a totally different perspective. What we think Iran had agreed to is not what Iran thinks, and what Iran thinks we agreed to is not necessarily the same. So, despite all the hoopla and media attention, what has been agreed to thus far really doesn't seem to have much meaning.
On the other hand, Zafir appears to be a much better negotiator, or bargainer, than Kerry. Iran has already gotten something out of this deal, just by sitting down for negotiations. Most Americans are unaware that we have already given up part of the store, even before negotiations started. Apparently, to entice the Iranians to the table, we have already released $490 million of their frozen assets back in January! Iran spends anywhere between $100 to $200 million in aid to Hezbollah annually. The $490 million that we gave them will keep Hezbollah going for another couple of years, or keep Hezbollah, Hamas, and a couple other terror groups going for a year or so! Small wonder that there were celebrations in the streets in Tehran!
We have released other funds, but the amount is unknown at this time. By June, we have agreed to release $11.9 billion in frozen assets. We are also going to release additional $8 billion in assets, allow Iran to collect $4.2 billion in oil sales and $1.5 billion from other imports. That is a significant amount that Iran will collect in the next few months. When all is said and done, the total amount that Iran will get from this deal, once the sanctions are completely lifted, is $250 billion! Most of this information was already released by Al Jazeera and European press. Interestingly, we hear very little from our own media on the money that has already been released to Iran! Iran has already gotten something in return for having only agreed to talk! What have we gotten out of this so far? Perhaps some much needed positive spin and boost for the administration's foreign policy! That's a pretty hefty price to pay for just some political points!
Since we established sanctions against Iran, only Russia, China, and North Korea have conducted business with them. Both Russia and China have built nuclear plants for Iran and North Korea has provided their know-how in building missiles. Just about all of Iran's military hardware has been purchased from either Russia, China, or North Korea. They also have reverse engineered many of those weapons and are now producing them in Iran. Since Iran does not abide by any patent or copyright laws, it freely pirates and reverse engineers weapons and equipment that was acquired from the West. In this fashion Iran has even produced copies of U. S. made weapons and parts that were left over from pre 1979!
Russia and China have a strong interest in seeing Iran as a major player in the Middle East. Ironically, we have asked them to participate in these so-called talks. It was Russia and China that helped Iran set up its vast nuclear plant system, and Russia has just signed a contract to build two new nuclear plants! Russia may not be a communist state anymore, but under Putin, it has started to revive its Soviet-like past belligerent nature - witness what has happened and is happening in Ukraine. Russia would like nothing more than to see a split occur between U.S. and Israel, and have a strong Iran as their own ally! This would definitely shift the geopolitical balance in the Middle East. At one time, Russia as Soviet Union had quite a bit of influence in the Middle East. Israel's victories in the Six Day and Yom Kippur Wars have largely negated that influence. Today, only Syria and Iran appear to be Russia's "friends." That is why it is hard to believe that Russia would be interested in seeing Iran "neutralized."
China too, would like to maintain Iran's position in the region as a power. China may be our economic ally, but it is not our political ally! China wants to spread its own influence and in many parts of the world is in direct competition with us! So, their participation to "de-nuclearize" Iran is indeed a curious affair. All it needed was to have North Korea to participate in the talks to make it truly bizarre! Of course, Russia and China being permanent members of the UN Security Council almost have to be included in any discussions involving world's security. But in this case, it is like having a pair of foxes in a hen house to discuss its security! An addition of a Tasmanian Devil (North Korea) would have made it even more like something that was dreamed up by a mad man!
This so called "Nuclear Deal" is much more than an agreement to stop Iran from making nuclear weapons. That may be our goal, but it is certainly not the goal of Russia or China, or perhaps even some of the European participants in the talks. Iran desperately needed sanctions to be eased, which happened even before the talks started when we released $490 million in January. Since that time we released more funds and have eased sanctions in other areas, although none of it has been widely reported by our media. Iran may very well get more than it hoped for, it already got partial relief from sanctions without having to do anything except agree to talk! They are definitely better negotiators than we are!
Among several major differences shown in the statements released by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, just two issues perfectly illustrate the opposite views. Zarif announced that nuclear cooperation with European countries (what he meant was Russia) will increase and two new nuclear plants will be constructed soon. There was no mention of building additional plants or Iran's cooperation with European countries in the statement released by Kerry. Instead, Kerry announced that Iran will reduce its stockpile of weapons grade uranium, but Iran made no mention of reduction of stockpile! Iran also announced that all sanctions will be immediately dropped as soon as the agreement is signed. Kerry made no mention of dropping the sanctions immediately, instead, he said that the easing of sanctions will be gradual.
It is obvious that Kerry and Zarif are speaking in different languages and appear to have a totally different understanding of the "deal" that they had supposedly reached. That is precisely what I referred to on several occasions before, when I mentioned the difficulty in dealing or negotiating with Islamic countries, who seem to have a totally different perspective. What we think Iran had agreed to is not what Iran thinks, and what Iran thinks we agreed to is not necessarily the same. So, despite all the hoopla and media attention, what has been agreed to thus far really doesn't seem to have much meaning.
On the other hand, Zafir appears to be a much better negotiator, or bargainer, than Kerry. Iran has already gotten something out of this deal, just by sitting down for negotiations. Most Americans are unaware that we have already given up part of the store, even before negotiations started. Apparently, to entice the Iranians to the table, we have already released $490 million of their frozen assets back in January! Iran spends anywhere between $100 to $200 million in aid to Hezbollah annually. The $490 million that we gave them will keep Hezbollah going for another couple of years, or keep Hezbollah, Hamas, and a couple other terror groups going for a year or so! Small wonder that there were celebrations in the streets in Tehran!
We have released other funds, but the amount is unknown at this time. By June, we have agreed to release $11.9 billion in frozen assets. We are also going to release additional $8 billion in assets, allow Iran to collect $4.2 billion in oil sales and $1.5 billion from other imports. That is a significant amount that Iran will collect in the next few months. When all is said and done, the total amount that Iran will get from this deal, once the sanctions are completely lifted, is $250 billion! Most of this information was already released by Al Jazeera and European press. Interestingly, we hear very little from our own media on the money that has already been released to Iran! Iran has already gotten something in return for having only agreed to talk! What have we gotten out of this so far? Perhaps some much needed positive spin and boost for the administration's foreign policy! That's a pretty hefty price to pay for just some political points!
Since we established sanctions against Iran, only Russia, China, and North Korea have conducted business with them. Both Russia and China have built nuclear plants for Iran and North Korea has provided their know-how in building missiles. Just about all of Iran's military hardware has been purchased from either Russia, China, or North Korea. They also have reverse engineered many of those weapons and are now producing them in Iran. Since Iran does not abide by any patent or copyright laws, it freely pirates and reverse engineers weapons and equipment that was acquired from the West. In this fashion Iran has even produced copies of U. S. made weapons and parts that were left over from pre 1979!
Russia and China have a strong interest in seeing Iran as a major player in the Middle East. Ironically, we have asked them to participate in these so-called talks. It was Russia and China that helped Iran set up its vast nuclear plant system, and Russia has just signed a contract to build two new nuclear plants! Russia may not be a communist state anymore, but under Putin, it has started to revive its Soviet-like past belligerent nature - witness what has happened and is happening in Ukraine. Russia would like nothing more than to see a split occur between U.S. and Israel, and have a strong Iran as their own ally! This would definitely shift the geopolitical balance in the Middle East. At one time, Russia as Soviet Union had quite a bit of influence in the Middle East. Israel's victories in the Six Day and Yom Kippur Wars have largely negated that influence. Today, only Syria and Iran appear to be Russia's "friends." That is why it is hard to believe that Russia would be interested in seeing Iran "neutralized."
China too, would like to maintain Iran's position in the region as a power. China may be our economic ally, but it is not our political ally! China wants to spread its own influence and in many parts of the world is in direct competition with us! So, their participation to "de-nuclearize" Iran is indeed a curious affair. All it needed was to have North Korea to participate in the talks to make it truly bizarre! Of course, Russia and China being permanent members of the UN Security Council almost have to be included in any discussions involving world's security. But in this case, it is like having a pair of foxes in a hen house to discuss its security! An addition of a Tasmanian Devil (North Korea) would have made it even more like something that was dreamed up by a mad man!
This so called "Nuclear Deal" is much more than an agreement to stop Iran from making nuclear weapons. That may be our goal, but it is certainly not the goal of Russia or China, or perhaps even some of the European participants in the talks. Iran desperately needed sanctions to be eased, which happened even before the talks started when we released $490 million in January. Since that time we released more funds and have eased sanctions in other areas, although none of it has been widely reported by our media. Iran may very well get more than it hoped for, it already got partial relief from sanctions without having to do anything except agree to talk! They are definitely better negotiators than we are!
Monday, April 6, 2015
"Kippumjo" - The Joy Group
The word kippumjo is a North Korean creation, a combination of Korean for joy or happiness, kippum, and a group of people, jo. It has been given a more catchy name and translated as "pleasure squad" by the Western media. The existence of kippumjo or "pleasure squad" in North Korea has been suspected for many years. Periodically word would filter out that Kim Il Sung and later his son Kim Jong Il, had women that were specifically recruited and kept for the purpose of providing pleasure to the Kims and other leaders of North Korea. However, all of these reports were unverified and there never were any witnesses. All of that changed when in 2010, an attractive North Korean female defector divulged to the South Korean authorities that she had been one of the kippumjo, a member of the "pleasure squad" who was one of Kim Jong Il's favorites.
According to Mi Hyang (only her first name was revealed), she was recruited as a very young girl specifically for the purpose of providing sexual pleasure to Kim Jong Il or other leaders. She said that there were many other young women recruited from all over North Korea. Perhaps "recruited" is not the right word, "drafted" would be more appropriate, since neither the young women nor their families had any say so in the matter. A special department exists in the North Korean government that is charged with finding attractive young women for kippumjo. They scour the cities and the countryside and pick young girls for the "pleasure squad."
Apparently there are three categories of kippumjo. The prettiest, the most attractive ones are called manjoku and they are for sexual pleasure. Another category known as haengbokjo are the ones who are trained to be skilled in giving massages, and the third group is the gamjo, those who are skilled in singing and dancing. Of course all are attractive and required to provide sex if called upon.
The whole business of kippumjo is so surrealistic that it is generally waved off by some as just another fiction or anti North Korean propaganda. After all, in that controversial movie about North Korea, The Interview, which caused such a stir not long ago, the "pleasure squad" was prominently displayed. The movie being a comedy, most viewers no doubt felt that the whole business of "pleasure squad" was just an invention of a Hollywood script writer. But as strange and far-fetched as it may be, the "pleasure squads" did exist and have been resurrected recently.
Initially, when Kim Jong Un took power, he got rid of the kippumjo. He was paranoid and felt that these women knew too many state secrets, sensitive information about various leaders. Also, Kim Jong Un initially shunned the extravagant life style of his father. But it didn't take him long to develop a taste for the high life, which he had originally lived, but abandoned briefly when he took power. Now, being fully in power, he has reinstituted the kippumjo or "pleasure squads" and has been living a decadent, bacchanalian life style. What a country!
North Korea seems to be on another planet, in another world. Through the years, it has been almost impossible to deal with them. Their mentality, their way of thinking is so far removed from that of the rest of the world that it is impossible to have a meeting of the minds. In 2005, after many years of trying, finally an agreement was reached on the nuclear issue. The United States, Russia, China, South Korea on one side, and North Korea on the other, came to an agreement, a deal was struck and sanctions were lifted. A year later, in 2006 North Korea had its first successful nuclear bomb test, completely ignoring and negating the agreement that it had made earlier! Now, some nine years later, North Korea has had several successful nuclear bomb tests and it is believed that they will have about 20 nuclear devices within a short time.
The danger is not that they will fire missiles with nuclear devices at South Korea or Japan, although they are perfectly capable of doing that. The more imminent danger is that they will sell the nukes to earn money, which they desperately need, to terrorist states! North Korea has a record of selling weapons to terrorists. All of those scud missiles that Saddam Hussein fired at Israel during the first Gulf War were purchased from North Korea! Now imagine those same North Korean scuds with nuclear warheads! The missiles that North Korea now produces have a much longer range, so, with nuclear warheads, they become extremely dangerous not only in North Korean hands, but in the hands of terrorists that will purchase them! We have a problem, and I am surprised that there is so little talk about the situation with North Korea and their nuclear weapons.
Our latest deal with Iran smacks of the deal that we struck with North Korea.....Washington appears to be confident that Iran will keep its word and will not develop nuclear weapons surreptitiously. That's a lot of faith in a regime that has shown nothing in the past 35 years of its existence to merit such trust. It is a regime that has vowed to destroy Israel and refers to the United States as the "Great Satan!" In general, Iran has shown no tolerance towards any none Muslims!
Are we to believe that they changed overnight and will not pull the same thing that North Korea did?
Washington appears to have that confidence in Iran, let's hope they are right. One North Korea is more than enough!
According to Mi Hyang (only her first name was revealed), she was recruited as a very young girl specifically for the purpose of providing sexual pleasure to Kim Jong Il or other leaders. She said that there were many other young women recruited from all over North Korea. Perhaps "recruited" is not the right word, "drafted" would be more appropriate, since neither the young women nor their families had any say so in the matter. A special department exists in the North Korean government that is charged with finding attractive young women for kippumjo. They scour the cities and the countryside and pick young girls for the "pleasure squad."
Apparently there are three categories of kippumjo. The prettiest, the most attractive ones are called manjoku and they are for sexual pleasure. Another category known as haengbokjo are the ones who are trained to be skilled in giving massages, and the third group is the gamjo, those who are skilled in singing and dancing. Of course all are attractive and required to provide sex if called upon.
The whole business of kippumjo is so surrealistic that it is generally waved off by some as just another fiction or anti North Korean propaganda. After all, in that controversial movie about North Korea, The Interview, which caused such a stir not long ago, the "pleasure squad" was prominently displayed. The movie being a comedy, most viewers no doubt felt that the whole business of "pleasure squad" was just an invention of a Hollywood script writer. But as strange and far-fetched as it may be, the "pleasure squads" did exist and have been resurrected recently.
Initially, when Kim Jong Un took power, he got rid of the kippumjo. He was paranoid and felt that these women knew too many state secrets, sensitive information about various leaders. Also, Kim Jong Un initially shunned the extravagant life style of his father. But it didn't take him long to develop a taste for the high life, which he had originally lived, but abandoned briefly when he took power. Now, being fully in power, he has reinstituted the kippumjo or "pleasure squads" and has been living a decadent, bacchanalian life style. What a country!
North Korea seems to be on another planet, in another world. Through the years, it has been almost impossible to deal with them. Their mentality, their way of thinking is so far removed from that of the rest of the world that it is impossible to have a meeting of the minds. In 2005, after many years of trying, finally an agreement was reached on the nuclear issue. The United States, Russia, China, South Korea on one side, and North Korea on the other, came to an agreement, a deal was struck and sanctions were lifted. A year later, in 2006 North Korea had its first successful nuclear bomb test, completely ignoring and negating the agreement that it had made earlier! Now, some nine years later, North Korea has had several successful nuclear bomb tests and it is believed that they will have about 20 nuclear devices within a short time.
The danger is not that they will fire missiles with nuclear devices at South Korea or Japan, although they are perfectly capable of doing that. The more imminent danger is that they will sell the nukes to earn money, which they desperately need, to terrorist states! North Korea has a record of selling weapons to terrorists. All of those scud missiles that Saddam Hussein fired at Israel during the first Gulf War were purchased from North Korea! Now imagine those same North Korean scuds with nuclear warheads! The missiles that North Korea now produces have a much longer range, so, with nuclear warheads, they become extremely dangerous not only in North Korean hands, but in the hands of terrorists that will purchase them! We have a problem, and I am surprised that there is so little talk about the situation with North Korea and their nuclear weapons.
Our latest deal with Iran smacks of the deal that we struck with North Korea.....Washington appears to be confident that Iran will keep its word and will not develop nuclear weapons surreptitiously. That's a lot of faith in a regime that has shown nothing in the past 35 years of its existence to merit such trust. It is a regime that has vowed to destroy Israel and refers to the United States as the "Great Satan!" In general, Iran has shown no tolerance towards any none Muslims!
Are we to believe that they changed overnight and will not pull the same thing that North Korea did?
Washington appears to have that confidence in Iran, let's hope they are right. One North Korea is more than enough!
Friday, April 3, 2015
Israel and Israeli Leaders
Israel is the most important and the staunchest ally that we have in the Middle East, there are no two ways about it. Our current administration's flirtations with Iran notwithstanding, without Israel to provide a deterrent, Middle East would be even a bigger mess than it is, if you can imagine it!
An editorial in this morning's paper explained our relationship with Middle Eastern countries by pointing out that the Iran Hostage Crisis in which 52 of our diplomats were held as hostages for 444 days was not as bad or serious as the 1973 Oil Crisis that was created by OPEC, lead by Saudi Arabia! In other words, Saudi Arabia's price gouging was more serious than Iran's act of holding our diplomats hostage! Its not hard to see where that writer's priorities are, obviously it is more important to keep his car running with cheaper gas prices than protecting the lives of our diplomats! It was such a weak and shallow attempt at justifying our nuclear "deal" with Iran that supposedly had been negotiated that it is laughable.
You will note that I said "supposedly" negotiated. What we think or how we perceive things aren't seen or thought of the same way by Iranians. It is not easy to penetrate, to understand the workings of a Middle Eastern mind. It may sound like a cliché, but it is true! So, what we think we had agreed on is not necessarily what the Iranians think that they agreed upon. Most none Middle Eastern and none Islamic cultures have a very difficult time understanding, agreeing, or having a meeting of minds with that part of the world. Israel is an exception, because Israel is a part of the Middle East and can truly understand the way the Arab mind works. They certainly have had enough time to learn, something like a couple of thousand years! Yet Israel is also a part of the West, with its educational system and life style that is similar to Europe or America.
We should pay heed to what Israel says. Of course Israel has its own best interest in mind, and will put forth what serves them best. But nevertheless, they know and understand their neighbors better than we can ever hope to do so. To ignore Israel's warnings and advice is indeed foolhardy. But, we have always had people in power who thought they knew better than anyone else. That's what happened during Vietnam, during Carter Administration with his Georgia Mafia, and it has continued to this day!
We share intelligence with Israel, and some of the best (if not the only good stuff) intelligence that we get on Middle Eastern countries is what we get from Israel! Before the ground war took place in the first Gulf War, we asked the Israelis to brief us on Saddam Hussein's forces and other aspects of his defenses. Israeli Special Forces, Sayeret Matkal, officers came to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and briefed our Special Forces on the disposition of Saddam's Republican Guard and other units. Their briefing allowed us to have pretty good knowledge of what to expect and how to avoid any pitfalls. Our own intelligence was unable to provide that kind of information, but Israelis could! When the ground war began, it was literally a "cake walk" for our forces! Israelis truly know their neighbors, their enemies.
Israelis had warned us that the most difficult part would not be defeating Iraqi forces, the most difficult part would be the aftermath. After we defeat their forces, that is when the real problems would begin. Israel had plenty of experience dealing with Arabs in occupied territory. They have been fighting insurgents (Hamas or Hezbollah) in occupied areas of Lebanon or Palestine ever since they took the territory! Wisely, in the First Gulf War, we refrained from occupying any territory. The second time, Iraqi Freedom, we occupied Iraq and look what it has created!
One of the main problems that we have is that our civilian leadership seems to be totally lacking in experience and understanding of what war is all about. The president appears to be surrounded by a bunch of brainy people who seem to think that wars are fought like video games! It has reached a point where Vietnam veterans are mostly too old to serve in the government. There may still be a few, like John McCain, but they are now looked upon as relics of the past.
There may be a handful of Gulf War veterans, but not to take anything away from them, the first Gulf War only lasted a couple of months, the ground war even less than that. The amount of experience that you can gain in that period is not the same as spending a year in combat or for the duration as in case of Korea and World War Two. There are too few veterans of current wars to make an impact. In short, we are lacking in combat experience among our top civilian leaders and advisors. The president himself does not necessarily need combat experience, although it would help. But he must be surrounded by advisors who are at least knowledgeable about war! Yes I know, John Kerry is a Vietnam veteran, I remember very well when he "threw away" his medals in protest before TV cameras! But Kerry is about the only Vietnam Vet who is close to the president, and he is a phony!
In contrast, Israeli leadership, since its beginning in 1948 with David Ben-Gurion, has consisted of those who were veterans of either the War of Independence (Ben-Gurion was the leader during that period) or had actually served in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) which was created after the independence. Most of the older leaders like former Prime Ministers Shimon Peres, Yitzak Rabin and Menachem Begin fought in the War of Independence with either Haganah or Irgun, the two guerrilla organizations that were absorbed into IDF after the independence. Golda Meir, the only woman Prime Minister was very active and served with the underground movement during the War of Independence and before! The younger ones all had served, and with distinction, in IDF during one of the many Arab-Israeli Wars! Ehud Barak was the most highly decorated soldier in IDF!
Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister who appears to have a rocky relationship with Washington is a seasoned combat veteran who was wounded in battle. He served with IDF Special Forces, Sayeret Matkal in both the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. He is also a graduate of MIT with a BS and MS and served as Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. before becoming the Prime Minister the first time. So you can see that Benjamin Netyanyahu does understand America and Americans! Can't say the same thing about our leaders and their knowledge and understanding of Israel!
Netanyahu's older brother, Jonathan (Yonatan), was also with IDF's Sayeret Matkal and he was killed during the raid on Entebbe to rescue Israeli hostages from Uganda in 1976. Had he survived, he probably would have served in politics like his younger brother. By the way, Jonathan, who was born in New York, had trained with the U.S. Army Special Forces and studied at Harvard.
But Washington turns a deaf ear to Benjamin Netanyahu's warnings, and our media makes him out to be a war mongering Arab hater. Obviously folks in Washington know and understand the Middle East and the Arab world better than Netanyahu.
An editorial in this morning's paper explained our relationship with Middle Eastern countries by pointing out that the Iran Hostage Crisis in which 52 of our diplomats were held as hostages for 444 days was not as bad or serious as the 1973 Oil Crisis that was created by OPEC, lead by Saudi Arabia! In other words, Saudi Arabia's price gouging was more serious than Iran's act of holding our diplomats hostage! Its not hard to see where that writer's priorities are, obviously it is more important to keep his car running with cheaper gas prices than protecting the lives of our diplomats! It was such a weak and shallow attempt at justifying our nuclear "deal" with Iran that supposedly had been negotiated that it is laughable.
You will note that I said "supposedly" negotiated. What we think or how we perceive things aren't seen or thought of the same way by Iranians. It is not easy to penetrate, to understand the workings of a Middle Eastern mind. It may sound like a cliché, but it is true! So, what we think we had agreed on is not necessarily what the Iranians think that they agreed upon. Most none Middle Eastern and none Islamic cultures have a very difficult time understanding, agreeing, or having a meeting of minds with that part of the world. Israel is an exception, because Israel is a part of the Middle East and can truly understand the way the Arab mind works. They certainly have had enough time to learn, something like a couple of thousand years! Yet Israel is also a part of the West, with its educational system and life style that is similar to Europe or America.
We should pay heed to what Israel says. Of course Israel has its own best interest in mind, and will put forth what serves them best. But nevertheless, they know and understand their neighbors better than we can ever hope to do so. To ignore Israel's warnings and advice is indeed foolhardy. But, we have always had people in power who thought they knew better than anyone else. That's what happened during Vietnam, during Carter Administration with his Georgia Mafia, and it has continued to this day!
We share intelligence with Israel, and some of the best (if not the only good stuff) intelligence that we get on Middle Eastern countries is what we get from Israel! Before the ground war took place in the first Gulf War, we asked the Israelis to brief us on Saddam Hussein's forces and other aspects of his defenses. Israeli Special Forces, Sayeret Matkal, officers came to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and briefed our Special Forces on the disposition of Saddam's Republican Guard and other units. Their briefing allowed us to have pretty good knowledge of what to expect and how to avoid any pitfalls. Our own intelligence was unable to provide that kind of information, but Israelis could! When the ground war began, it was literally a "cake walk" for our forces! Israelis truly know their neighbors, their enemies.
Israelis had warned us that the most difficult part would not be defeating Iraqi forces, the most difficult part would be the aftermath. After we defeat their forces, that is when the real problems would begin. Israel had plenty of experience dealing with Arabs in occupied territory. They have been fighting insurgents (Hamas or Hezbollah) in occupied areas of Lebanon or Palestine ever since they took the territory! Wisely, in the First Gulf War, we refrained from occupying any territory. The second time, Iraqi Freedom, we occupied Iraq and look what it has created!
One of the main problems that we have is that our civilian leadership seems to be totally lacking in experience and understanding of what war is all about. The president appears to be surrounded by a bunch of brainy people who seem to think that wars are fought like video games! It has reached a point where Vietnam veterans are mostly too old to serve in the government. There may still be a few, like John McCain, but they are now looked upon as relics of the past.
There may be a handful of Gulf War veterans, but not to take anything away from them, the first Gulf War only lasted a couple of months, the ground war even less than that. The amount of experience that you can gain in that period is not the same as spending a year in combat or for the duration as in case of Korea and World War Two. There are too few veterans of current wars to make an impact. In short, we are lacking in combat experience among our top civilian leaders and advisors. The president himself does not necessarily need combat experience, although it would help. But he must be surrounded by advisors who are at least knowledgeable about war! Yes I know, John Kerry is a Vietnam veteran, I remember very well when he "threw away" his medals in protest before TV cameras! But Kerry is about the only Vietnam Vet who is close to the president, and he is a phony!
In contrast, Israeli leadership, since its beginning in 1948 with David Ben-Gurion, has consisted of those who were veterans of either the War of Independence (Ben-Gurion was the leader during that period) or had actually served in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) which was created after the independence. Most of the older leaders like former Prime Ministers Shimon Peres, Yitzak Rabin and Menachem Begin fought in the War of Independence with either Haganah or Irgun, the two guerrilla organizations that were absorbed into IDF after the independence. Golda Meir, the only woman Prime Minister was very active and served with the underground movement during the War of Independence and before! The younger ones all had served, and with distinction, in IDF during one of the many Arab-Israeli Wars! Ehud Barak was the most highly decorated soldier in IDF!
Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister who appears to have a rocky relationship with Washington is a seasoned combat veteran who was wounded in battle. He served with IDF Special Forces, Sayeret Matkal in both the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. He is also a graduate of MIT with a BS and MS and served as Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. before becoming the Prime Minister the first time. So you can see that Benjamin Netyanyahu does understand America and Americans! Can't say the same thing about our leaders and their knowledge and understanding of Israel!
Netanyahu's older brother, Jonathan (Yonatan), was also with IDF's Sayeret Matkal and he was killed during the raid on Entebbe to rescue Israeli hostages from Uganda in 1976. Had he survived, he probably would have served in politics like his younger brother. By the way, Jonathan, who was born in New York, had trained with the U.S. Army Special Forces and studied at Harvard.
But Washington turns a deaf ear to Benjamin Netanyahu's warnings, and our media makes him out to be a war mongering Arab hater. Obviously folks in Washington know and understand the Middle East and the Arab world better than Netanyahu.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Some Heroes I Have Known
Generally speaking, most people are unaware of thousands upon thousands, countless number of true heroes that emerge in each war that we have fought. The press will normally advertise the exploits of someone who is awarded the Medal of Honor, sometimes even those who receive the Distinguished Service Cross (Navy Cross for Navy and Marines and Flying Cross for the Air Force) or even a Silver Star. But those others, the vast majority who receive "lesser" or no medals at all, are rarely if ever mentioned.
Although every recipient of the Medal of Honor or the Distinguished Service Cross more than deserve the honor, unfortunately there are others that go unmentioned because they were never nominated for the higher awards. Like most things in life, everything depends on being at the right place at the right time, or having someone note your actions and record them officially. Sadly, sometimes someone would commit an act of valor that would deserve a high award, but because of personal differences with the commanding officer or simple dislike for each other, no award recommendations are written up and the exceptional action goes unmentioned and unrewarded. At other times, the paper work gets lost in the huge bureaucratic nest that is called Pentagon and with luck, resurfaces a half a century later! That is human nature, that is how things work or don't work ever since awards were given to warriors for their acts of valor.
I knew several people during Vietnam who deserved much higher awards than the ones they received, or didn't receive at all! One such person was my good friend William "Doc" Barnes. I already mentioned in an earlier blog how he had stitched up a fellow soldier in Laos and got his nickname. He should have gotten more than a nickname for that act, but he didn't. Considering that he was not even a medic, it was remarkable what he did! Unfortunately, none of the members of "White Star," got any recognition for their work. They spent a year fighting the Pathet Lao and training loyalist troops. Several were killed and many were wounded, but they never even got a campaign ribbon for their effort!
Several years after Laos, in Vietnam, Doc was on a patrol with a small contingent of Nung mercenaries and another American NCO. It was a typical patrol consisting of two American NCOs and a dozen indigenous troops. Special Forces ran these patrols that lasted from one day to several days, around their camps constantly. The patrols were conducted to sweep the area and gather intelligence for MACV in Saigon. On this particular occasion, the patrol ran into trouble when they stumbled upon a much larger NVA unit that had been staging to attack the camp. A firefight broke out and it was obvious that the small patrol could not hold off the larger enemy force so they had to make a run for it. A radio call was made to the camp, advising of their situation and a prearranged point was selected for extraction by helicopter. It was a running firefight and several Nungs, as well as Doc were hit.
Doc was the senior NCO and the patrol leader. As the patrol fought their way into a small clearing in the jungle where the high canopy was open just enough to allow for extraction, all the wounded were gathered to be extracted first. The Huey (UH-21) could not land, it had to lower a rope with a harness and winch up the patrol members, one by one! Fortunately, the canopy was so thick that the NVA could not see well enough to hit the hovering Huey. Doc ordered the wounded to be extracted first while he fought on, firing his weapon and supervising the extraction. He was hit several times and bleeding profusely. When the four wounded Nungs were lifted out, it was Doc's turn to go since he too was wounded, but he refused. Instead, he ordered the rest of the team to go and for the other American to go as well. When the junior NCO turned to him and said, "Doc, you're wounded! You've got to go!" Doc shook his head and said, "I am the team leader and I say who goes first!" It was like a scene out of a John Wayne movie!
Doc made sure that everyone had gone up before him. It was just Doc and one Nung remaining when the Nung was hit and fell to the ground. Doc grabbed the wounded Nung, and holding him, slipped himself into the harness and gave the signal to be winched up. The incident was accurately reported and Doc's actions were verified by the other American and all of the Nungs. Doc was never written up for his actions and never received even a letter of commendation for it! On his subsequent tours in Vietnam, Doc committed several valorous acts in combat but never received anything higher than a Bronze Star with a "V" device for valor and the Army Commendation Medal which was sometimes derisively referred to as the "Green Hornet" (because of the green ribbon)!
It wasn't until much later that I discovered what a legend he had become in the Special Forces. Back in the late 1980s when I was stationed in Ecuador, a Special Forces team from the 7th Special Forces Group in Panama used to come down often to train Ecuadorian troops and also to conduct a "survey" of the American Consulate General where I worked. The Special Forces team was assigned to "cover" us, to help with security and evacuation in case of trouble. It was ironic, but I discovered that the team from Panama, was my old team A-717, which was now called ODA 717! The Special Forces team members were excited to learn that I was one of the "old timers" and asked me countless questions about the "old days." Talk about feeling old! Somehow Doc's name came-up and I was surprised to learn that they had all heard of him! He had become a legend of sorts in the Special Forces. Naturally, my stock went up in their estimation (whether deservedly or not!) simply because I knew Doc personally! I was no longer just a State Department wimp but a former SF, one of the "old guys," and a friend of Doc Barnes!
Doc Barnes was a true American hero, everyone in the Special Forces thought so, but like so many others like him, he never got the recognition that he deserved. I was very fortunate to have known him, to have served with him, and to have been his friend.
Although every recipient of the Medal of Honor or the Distinguished Service Cross more than deserve the honor, unfortunately there are others that go unmentioned because they were never nominated for the higher awards. Like most things in life, everything depends on being at the right place at the right time, or having someone note your actions and record them officially. Sadly, sometimes someone would commit an act of valor that would deserve a high award, but because of personal differences with the commanding officer or simple dislike for each other, no award recommendations are written up and the exceptional action goes unmentioned and unrewarded. At other times, the paper work gets lost in the huge bureaucratic nest that is called Pentagon and with luck, resurfaces a half a century later! That is human nature, that is how things work or don't work ever since awards were given to warriors for their acts of valor.
I knew several people during Vietnam who deserved much higher awards than the ones they received, or didn't receive at all! One such person was my good friend William "Doc" Barnes. I already mentioned in an earlier blog how he had stitched up a fellow soldier in Laos and got his nickname. He should have gotten more than a nickname for that act, but he didn't. Considering that he was not even a medic, it was remarkable what he did! Unfortunately, none of the members of "White Star," got any recognition for their work. They spent a year fighting the Pathet Lao and training loyalist troops. Several were killed and many were wounded, but they never even got a campaign ribbon for their effort!
Several years after Laos, in Vietnam, Doc was on a patrol with a small contingent of Nung mercenaries and another American NCO. It was a typical patrol consisting of two American NCOs and a dozen indigenous troops. Special Forces ran these patrols that lasted from one day to several days, around their camps constantly. The patrols were conducted to sweep the area and gather intelligence for MACV in Saigon. On this particular occasion, the patrol ran into trouble when they stumbled upon a much larger NVA unit that had been staging to attack the camp. A firefight broke out and it was obvious that the small patrol could not hold off the larger enemy force so they had to make a run for it. A radio call was made to the camp, advising of their situation and a prearranged point was selected for extraction by helicopter. It was a running firefight and several Nungs, as well as Doc were hit.
Doc was the senior NCO and the patrol leader. As the patrol fought their way into a small clearing in the jungle where the high canopy was open just enough to allow for extraction, all the wounded were gathered to be extracted first. The Huey (UH-21) could not land, it had to lower a rope with a harness and winch up the patrol members, one by one! Fortunately, the canopy was so thick that the NVA could not see well enough to hit the hovering Huey. Doc ordered the wounded to be extracted first while he fought on, firing his weapon and supervising the extraction. He was hit several times and bleeding profusely. When the four wounded Nungs were lifted out, it was Doc's turn to go since he too was wounded, but he refused. Instead, he ordered the rest of the team to go and for the other American to go as well. When the junior NCO turned to him and said, "Doc, you're wounded! You've got to go!" Doc shook his head and said, "I am the team leader and I say who goes first!" It was like a scene out of a John Wayne movie!
Doc made sure that everyone had gone up before him. It was just Doc and one Nung remaining when the Nung was hit and fell to the ground. Doc grabbed the wounded Nung, and holding him, slipped himself into the harness and gave the signal to be winched up. The incident was accurately reported and Doc's actions were verified by the other American and all of the Nungs. Doc was never written up for his actions and never received even a letter of commendation for it! On his subsequent tours in Vietnam, Doc committed several valorous acts in combat but never received anything higher than a Bronze Star with a "V" device for valor and the Army Commendation Medal which was sometimes derisively referred to as the "Green Hornet" (because of the green ribbon)!
It wasn't until much later that I discovered what a legend he had become in the Special Forces. Back in the late 1980s when I was stationed in Ecuador, a Special Forces team from the 7th Special Forces Group in Panama used to come down often to train Ecuadorian troops and also to conduct a "survey" of the American Consulate General where I worked. The Special Forces team was assigned to "cover" us, to help with security and evacuation in case of trouble. It was ironic, but I discovered that the team from Panama, was my old team A-717, which was now called ODA 717! The Special Forces team members were excited to learn that I was one of the "old timers" and asked me countless questions about the "old days." Talk about feeling old! Somehow Doc's name came-up and I was surprised to learn that they had all heard of him! He had become a legend of sorts in the Special Forces. Naturally, my stock went up in their estimation (whether deservedly or not!) simply because I knew Doc personally! I was no longer just a State Department wimp but a former SF, one of the "old guys," and a friend of Doc Barnes!
Doc Barnes was a true American hero, everyone in the Special Forces thought so, but like so many others like him, he never got the recognition that he deserved. I was very fortunate to have known him, to have served with him, and to have been his friend.
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