AMERICAN MERCENARY IN THE UKRAINE

There's speculation in the comments below this clip in YouTube about whether he's American or Brit - seems he could be either - I watched it a few times and figured that guy might be a Brit but his accent seems more American if you ask me. Looks legit . . . S.L.



I also found it funny that to some of the people commenting, "American mercenaries" automatically means "Blackwater". Blackwater was a private military company - in fact they no longer exist as Blackwater - and what they do is legitimate security work, highly regulated and overseen by the US Government.

You've got to figure - we've had almost 15 years of continual war ... before that we had a professional military the likes of which the world has never seen, with a lot of continual experience in places like Grenada, Lebanon, Panama, Kuwait, Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya and the Mahgreb . . . and so of course it is inevitable these days that guys are "freelancing" - in two places specifically: Ukraine and Iraq.

The American warrior class is firmly established and quite distinct and visible . . . we are also the most misunderstood class of American society . . . and it is an honor to be included as a member of it . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS

BOOTS

I take good care of my boots; saddle soap, boot polish and Neatsfoot oil after hard use and especially after exposure to salt . . . S.L.



I bought this pair of Danner "Fort Lewis" boots back in 1985. They are Airborne Qualified (more than 5 jumps - a LOT more - mostly at night with combat equipment) and have soldiered on 2 continents in all conditions; cold wet winters and thick snow. Full leather uppers, insulated, Vibram soles. Some moisture problem when you sweat into the insulated interior, and a bit heavy (full leather boot) but okay for medium level work.



I was issued this pair of Reichle's in Stuttgart in 2004. Also Airborne Qualified, also soldiered on 2 continents all conditions and above 10,000 feet in the winter. This was actually my second pair - the first pair wore out after 2 years hard military service in urban environments (in all fairness this will take it out of any boot). I babied this second pair and got ten years out of them. Leather upper, vibram soles, very comfortable, very warm & dry.

As you can see the Reichle's blew out - shoe repair place says it is the base of the boot itself that separated, not just the sole; they cannot be repaired.


Bottom Line

The Danner's win for overall durability, but again, big moisture problem with the insulation when you sweat into them. Because of this, they are not the preferred boot for long, hard marches or dismounted operations over several days but are okay for modern operations (which usually involve vehicles). These boots require thick, wool socks - we used to rotate the sweaty ones under our shirts to dry them out. They are comfortable boots and I like them.

The Reichle's are a light weight boot with good insulation - never noticed a moisture problem. In fact, the insulation is so good I only ever had to wear thin nylon socks - the black socks we normally wear in dress uniform with our low-quarters. I've actually seen US soldiers wearing them in the tropics. They are extremely comfortable.


HAIX® Mission Boot

Developed in cooperation with the KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte (Special Forces Command, KSK - German Special Forces), these boots have soldiered from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea to northern Sasketchewan - they are the epitome of the Four Season Boot.

I don't have the operational time in these boots, of course, but from the moment the Haix people introduced this boot to me I recognized it as the best military footgear I've ever seen. Lightweight comfort and support matched with superior support and tough, robust exterior designed for the brutal conditions in Central Asia. You could walk on the moon in these boots.

My next pair of boots.

STORMBRINGER SENDS

THE GREEN BERETS of OPERATIONAL DETACHMENT "ALPHA" 574

Episode 3: "The Sacrifice"

On November 14, 2001, U.S. Army Special Forces Operational Detachment "Alpha" 574 - an "A" team of Green Berets known as ODA 574 - infiltrated the mountains of southern Afghanistan to carry out a tribal revolt against the Taliban




Learn more about ODA 574 in The Only Thing Worth Dying For by Eric Blehm and look for the fourth installment of this incredible story in September


This is a fitting lead up to the observances of the tenth anniversary of 9/11 - it was my intent to make a special presentation dedicated to a friend and colleague who paid the ultimate price, but I'm on the road for the next two weeks and circumstances probably won't allow for much posting if any at all. The NRA's excellent Life of Duty presentation is a fitting tribute to all who have served and especially those who sacrificed everything - over there on distant dusty battlefields and here at home on the battlefields of that terrible day at Ground Zero in Manhattan, the Pentagon in Northern Virginia, and an otherwise nondescript field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania which marks the spot where our side first fought back against the terrorist enemy. Let us never forget all of those who have given everything in this struggle against barbarism. - S. L.

INSIDE THE GREEN BERETS - OPERATIONAL DETACHMENT "ALPHA" 574

MSG Jefferson D. Davis, SFC Daniel H. Petithory and SSG Brian C. Prosser of 5th Special Forces Group were Killed In Action on December 5, 2001 in the B-52 J-DAM fratricide incident.

ODA 574 was a part of 3d Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group. I say was because since 574 performed their heroic work in the winter and spring of 01-02, US Army Special Forces has gone to a four-digit designation system for the ODAs. 574's goal was to set the condition for a democratic government in Afghanistan to replace the insurgent Taliban rulers. Jason Amerine was the Detachment Commander, but as everyone knows Army Special Forces is run by the NCOs, and in many cases the Captain is just along for the ride. (This is not to disparage Amerine - he was an effective leader and was decorated after participating in several battles of the Invasion of Afghanistan.)

Codenamed "Texas 12" (Texas One-Two), the detachment's goal was to set up a new government in Afghanistan. The group was made up of 12 Americans under command of Captain Jason Amerine. They worked side-by-side with the anti-Taliban militia led by Hamid Karzai, who planned to take the Islamic spiritual center of Kandahar. The key to the province was the town of Tarin Kowt. The civilians of the town overthrew the Taliban governor, so Karzai and Amerince planned to defend it. The 12 Americans of Operational Detachment Alpha 574 and 35 Afghans defended Tarin Kowt from 100 Taliban trucks carrying 1,000 insurgents. The town was successfully defended by the brave troops of Alpha 574 as well as the Afghan freedom-fighters, who drove back the Taliban. Fighting again along the Arghandab River, Alpha 574 defeated the Talibans at Shawali Kowt and Sayyd Alma Kalay. These victories were the key to the Kandahar Campaign, ending when Kandahar fell to US Marines. When Kandahar fell, Karzai became the interim president of Afghanistan, so Alpha 574's mission was complete.


A charter member of Team STORMBRINGER found the following on Blackfive



I found it very interesting, and there are a whole series of them to be seen so get over to Blackfive and enjoy!

Take care and have a nice weekend - more to follow so y'all come back now . . .

- S. L.

MEDIATIONS ON THE CHINOOK CRASH

Ten years on and the people of America and her Allies simply cannot get their heads around what this war is about . . . its not about taking real estate, and even when we do take real estate is not secure . . . the enemy has no capital city, no flag, no uniform . . . there are no air clashes between mighty carrier armadas . . . no carpet bombing of cities, no tank columns battling it out on dusty plains . . . combat is largely symbolic; it's really a conflict between ideologies. Theirs embraces suicide, suffering and denial now as a ticket to Paradise, ours is the promise of freedom and a good life which the enemy somehow twists and perverts in the minds of their brainwashed followers.

How do you prevail over an enemy that numbers in the millions, most of them illiterate or if they can read they've only read one book in their entire lives and their frothing-at-the-mouth mad mullahs tell them what it means: that they should be more than willing to sacrifice their miserable lives to kill the Infidel? We slay a thousand, ten thousand of theirs and it doesn't matter - they all went to Paradise and who would miss them anyway? They're all loincloth-wearing mud hut dwellers with nothing better to do and all day to do it. They kill ten, twenty or thirty of ours and it's a major coup so body count math simply does not work. Symbolic victories is what it's all about, that and the hearts and minds of our home populations.

 This war could conceivably go on forever; at the very least until the Second Coming, and we could conduct it a lot more cost-effectively than how we are currently going about it.

One way is to say to Hell with Nation-building - haven't we done enough for these people? First of all we liberated them, then we put up with the bombs and bullets of the insurgents they support, we shed the precious blood of thousands of our best & brightest. We can't simply pull out because that's handing victory over to the savages who ran Afghanistan into the Stone Age - not that it was very much out of the Stone Age in the first place - but the current status quo is simply unsustainable. Besides if they get those natural gas and oil pipelines run from the 'Stans down to the Indian Ocean ports, they'll finally have some kind of worth to their land which is otherwise a inhospitable pile of rocks, only good for growing opium and xenophobic zealotry.

The concept would be to maintain some fortresses over there, manned by Special Operations Forces and defended by private military companies. Let these people decide what they want to do with their cities and real estate - the whole place is incurably tribal anyway - while we maintain a permanent state of siege from within our firebases, resupplied by helicopters and Ospreys, straining the enemy's resources while we come and go at will on operations to punch him in the nose and kick him in the ass.

At a recent dinner table conversation in DC, one distinguished dinner guest suggested America needs some kind of mercenary force to conduct these kind of operations. I disagreed; we are not France and a Foreign Legion is not in keeping with our Constitution. There is no shortage of brave individuals willing to come forward to serve their country, and if the Mainstream Media wasn't so adamantly hellbent on surrender at any cost, there'd be a whole helluva lot more.

A reader wrote about Aaron Vaughn and those guys, commented that they're his age, how it's sobering to think about the time and effort that goes into building a spec ops guy like a SEAL (on both sides, trainer and trainee) . And these guys had families, kids to boot.

I was once their age and I went downrange dressed to kill and I had a family at the time (still do of course), my kids were young when I was going in and out of the Bad Countries . . .

When I went through the Special Forces Q Course it was between six to eighteen months long (depending what MOS you went for). On top of that you had to already be a sergeant in the Regular Army - I had five years under my belt as a grunt in the 82d Airborne by the time I went into the Q Course - so you could say it averaged four to five years to make a Green Beret; about the same to make a SEAL.

I read something somewhere that it takes ten years to fully train a Special Operations soldier in anyone's army; when you consider training and schools intersected with operational time I'd say that's about right. To me a fully trained professional should have a specialty insertion technique (scuba or halo), have at least three MOS's (one in their regular forces and two Special Forces), speak at least one foreign language (I have French, Thai and Spanish), graduate advanced Special Operations training courses (combat pistol marksmanship, CQB, breaching and advanced demolitions, tradecraft, technical surveillance, etc), and have some useful civilian credentials as well such as locksmithing, mechanic, etc.

These guys were the highest of their profession, and when you crunch the numbers it is easy to say they are less than 1% of 1% of all the military - the true elite.

Others will step forward to fill their shoes, and the Big Wheel Keeps on Turning.

It was just announced: the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will offer full college scholarships to the children of all of the U. S. military personnel who perished in the recent CH-47 helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

For the past 31 years, the SOWF has supported the families of fallen Special Operations members by providing college educations to their surviving children. Today, the foundation’s board of directors has decided to provide its services to the families of all U. S. troops aboard the helicopter that was downed on Aug. 6.
"This was a tragic day for our military and their families. While the majority of the military personnel onboard the CH-47 were special operators, and they are automatically covered by the foundation, we wanted to offer our services to all who were on that fateful mission,” said retired Air Force Col. John T. Carney, Jr., SOWF President. "The least we can do for the grieving families is to honor the sacrifices of their loved ones and to offer a college education to the surviving children.”

We know now that the Chinook was a regular CH-47, not an MH- series Special Operations bird - I mistakenly posted that it was an MH-47 on the assumption that an outfit like SEAL Team 6 gets around in MH- series birds (the whole time I was in Special Forces I can count the times we flew regular birds on the fingers of one hand, and I was in SF for 20 years.) Suffice to say something went terribly wrong - they were possibly flying in on their contingency plan means of infil - in any case it is an act of class for the SOWF to include the non-Spec Ops personnel in their generous charity; they died on a Spec Ops mission, as far as I'm concerned they're Spec Ops now, they earned it the hard way.


"Only the Dead have seen the End of War." 

- SEAN LINNANE SENDS

"HE WAS A WARRIOR FOR CHRIST AND HE WAS A WARRIOR FOR OUR COUNTRY . . ."

Aaron Vaughn is one of the Navy SEALs who died in the Chinook helo ambush.













The widow of Navy SEAL Aaron Vaughn told CNN: "I want to tell the world that he was an amazing man, that he was a wonderful husband, and a fabulous father to two wonderful children. He was a warrior for Christ and he was a warrior for our country and he wouldn't want to leave this Earth any other way than how he did . . ."

American Morning let Kimberly Vaughn’s offensive reference to Christ in a tribute to her husband get by their censors once before political correctness took hold to cut it a mere five minutes later. In a moment reminiscent of NBC’s “regrettable” omission of “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance during it coverage of the U.S. Open two months ago, CNN cut “warrior for Christ” from Kimberly Vaughn’s tribute to her hero husband (one of twenty-two Navy SEALS and eight other servicemen killed in the Chinook helicopter during a mission in Afghanistan).


PERSONAL STORIES OF THE FALLEN FIGHTERS

They came from far-flung corners of the country - some of them motivated by the 9/11 attacks that bin Laden masterminded.

They were intensely patriotic and talented young men with a love of physical challenges and a passion for the high-risk job they chose.

Brian Bill, for example, had seemingly boundless ambitions, according to those who knew him as a high school student-athlete in Stamford, Conn. A skier, mountaineer, pilot and triathlete, he hoped to complete graduate school after his military service and then become an astronaut. "He loved life; he loved a challenge; and he was passionate about being a SEAL," his family said in a statement Monday.

Aaron Vaughn, a 30-year-old father of two from Virginia Beach, Va., met his wife, Kimberly, when she was a Washington Redskins cheerleader on a USO tour in Guam. Vaughn had aspired to a military career since childhood and told his parents after 9/11 that he wanted to become a SEAL. "He felt, and so did the other members of his team, that the very existence of our republic is at stake," his father, Billy Vaughn, told NBC's "Today." "Because of that, Aaron was willing to give his life."

Jason Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah, also cited 9/11 as his motive for aspiring to join the special forces, childhood friend Tate Bennett told The Deseret News. He completed his Mormon mission to Brazil and Philadelphia, attended college, then joined the Navy with the specific goal of becoming a SEAL. "Not making it just wasn't an option," Bennett said of his friend, who leaves behind a wife and 21-month-old son.

Workman, Vaughn, Bill and 19 other SEALS were among 30 Americans and eight Afghans killed Saturday when a rocket-propelled grenade fired by a Taliban insurgent downed their Chinook helicopter en route to a combat mission. All but two of the SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed bin Laden, although military officials said none of the crash victims was on that mission in Pakistan against the al-Qaida leader.

The crash was a somber counterpoint to the national jubilation that greeted news of bin Laden's death. Yet families and friends of the SEALs killed aboard the Chinook spoke of the dedication and tight-knit camaraderie that tided them through all sorts of ups and downs.

Read more HERE

Today is SEAL Day at STORMBRINGER - they join the Heroes of our Nation in Valhalla, and we honor them.


SEAN LINNANE SENDS

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31 U.S. troops, 7 Afghans killed as insurgents down NATO chopper

KABUL, Afghanistan— ⁠Thirty-one American troops and seven Afghans died in the overnight downing of a U.S. helicopter, President Hamid Karzai's office said Saturday. The Taliban claimed to have shot down the craft.

The deaths represent the largest loss of military lives in a single incident in the course of the nearly 10-year-old war, and are a blow to Western efforts as the United States and its allies begin drawing down forces in Afghanistan in hopes of ending their combat role in the next three years.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, confirmed in a terse statement that a helicopter crash had occurred and acknowledged insurgent activity in the area at the time. A Western military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the twin-rotor Chinook helicopter had apparently been brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Karzai's statement identified the slain Americans as special operations forces. Sensitive to operational secrecy, special forces commanders as a rule are slower than other branches to publicly acknowledge combat casualties, which would account for the military's near-silence on the incident more than 12 hours after it occurred.

The helicopter went down after midnight in the Sayedabad district of Wardak province, west of the capital, Kabul, according to Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the provincial governor. He and other provincial officials said the crash followed a firefight that left eight insurgents dead.

Read more HERE: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-afghan-chopper-20110807,0,7157351.story

Photo shows close up of a U.S. Army Special Operations MH-47 Chinook helicopter with its distinctive refueling boom as a crewmember leans over one of the ship's two 7.62mm miniguns.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

400 ROUNDS, 17 GRENADES & 30 ENEMIES

Soldier Single-Handedly Beats Back Taliban Barrage.


Last summer, a single Gurkha soldier of the British forces single-handedly beat back a Taliban attack of 30 fighters in Afghanistan with just a chunk of metal and a sandbag after running out of ammunition. Sgt. Pun's extraordinary courage in Helmand province earned him the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross at a special ceremony in London:





Facing a surprise attack at a Afghanistan checkpoint, Sergeant Dipprasad Pun, 31, hoisted a 50lb machine gun off its mount to blast at the enemy.

When they kept coming, he launched 17 grenades and picked up an SA80 assault rifle, which jammed on him.

Then he threw the machine gun's metal tripod at his attackers, before fending them off with a sandbag while yelling in Nepali: "I will kill you!"

With nothing left to hand, the exhausted hero finally managed to fire off a Claymore mine, and the blast sent the enemy scattering.

Pun's medal citation said his actions saved the lives of three comrades and prevented the key military position he was guarding from being overrun.

"I was really scared but as soon as I opened fire that was gone. I knew I had to kill them.

"I thought they were going to kill me after a couple of minutes, definitely. Looking back at it, I realise I'm a very lucky guy, a survivor. It is great to get this award. I am very happy."

The sergeant in the Royal Gurkha Rifles told how he was on night-time sentry duty on September 17 last year when he discovered insurgents laying an improvised explosive device at the checkpoint.

He was surrounded and the enemy opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and AK47s.

As the 20-minute battle raged, Sgt Pun raced onto a wall to remove the .50 cal machine gun from its mount so he could lower it enough to aim at the attackers below.

At one point he turned to find a "huge" militant standing behind him ready to pounce and Sgt Pun fired a final machine gun round at him.

He also fired his SA80 assault rifle, but the weapon failed just as another Taliban crept up on him. He said: "I threw it away and grabbed a sandbag to hit him but all the sand poured away. I had nothing left. Suddenly I found the metal rod and hit him with it.

"I threw it at him yelling in Nepali 'I will kill you' and he fell down. They were very determined. They kept coming and coming. In the end I was nearly collapsed."

Sgt. Pun's actions saved the lives of three comrades and prevented the key military position he was guarding from being overrun.


The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross is just one level below the UK's top military honor, the Victoria Cross.









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HUMVEE WITH SNAKE FLAG IN AFGHANISTAN

3d Special Forces Group - my old outfit.


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AFGHAN MOB TORE OPEN BUNKER TO KILL FOREIGN UN STAFF

"THE REALITY IS THAT OUR GURKHAS ARE NEVER GOING TO SHOOT AT CIVILIANS"


KABUL (Reuters) - An angry mob that killed seven foreign UN staff in north Afghanistan ripped out the door of a bunker where several had taken shelter, and slit the throat of one man who survived a bullet, the top UN envoy in the country said on Saturday.

Afghans carry a man who was wounded in an attack on the UN's office in Mazar-i-Sharif, north of Kabul. Mustafa Najafizada/Associated Press

Staffan de Mistura promised that the United Nations would stay in Afghanistan after the vicious assault, the deadliest it has faced in Afghanistan, but would have to reconsider security, particularly guarantees from Afghan forces.

"We are not leaving," de Mistura told a small group of journalists in the Afghan capital, after flying back from Mazar-i-Sharif where he handled the aftermath of the attack.

De Mistura said the violence, in a normally peaceful city, had caught ill-prepared Afghan police by surprise, and the Gurkhas who are the next layer of security for the United Nations could not open fire because they are forbidden to shoot into crowds that contain civilians.

Afghan police were the first line of protection on Friday when a crowd of up to 3,000 demonstrators enraged by the burning of a Koran by a militant fundamentalist Christian in the United States overran the compound, killing seven staff.

Read it HERE

"They were killed when they were running out of the bunker," said Staffan de Mistura, the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan. Photo: Eric Kanalstein, UNAMA / AP


THEIR BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS TERRY JONES

The victims died after Afghans protesting the burning of Islam's holy book at a U.S. church stormed the compound in Mazar-i-Sharif.

Pastor Terry Jones conducted a ritualistic burning of the Koran on Sunday, March 20th 2011 at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla.


SPECIAL COMMUNIQUE TO: Pastor Terry Jones This is where your book burnings lead to. Freedom-loving people believe in freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion. Freedom-loving people do not burn books.

I would call you out, sir, to debate this freely in the Arena of Ideas - but you are a Mental Midget, an Intellectual Microbe. Against mindsets like yours, I might as well debate the Cliffs of Moher. And yet there is a danger posed by your special kind of idiocy, because it is imbeciles like you who start world wars.


I'm a Christian - but I'm not THIS kind of Christian. This is not Christianity as I know it.

SEAN LINNANE SENDS


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GI GETS SILVER STAR FOR STOPPING ATTACKER

Master Sergeant Ian Dunbar shakes the hand of Silver Star recipient SFC Steven V. Kimsey on Thursday at The Carolina Hotel Grand Ballroom in Pinehurst.


Fayetteville Observer March 18, 2011

PINEHURST, NC - Sergeant First Class Steve Kimsey received the Silver Star Thursday for his actions last year during an attack in an operations center in Afghanistan that left two Fort Bragg Soldiers dead and threatened at least six other people.

On Jan. 29, 2010, an Afghan interpreter, who had just been fired, attacked the center with an AK-47 and four full magazines at Camp Nunez in Wardak Province.

Kimsey, who was wearing a Beretta M9 pistol, was the only other person in the room who was armed. He stepped in front of the unarmed people and shot the interpreter to death.

"It all happened really quick -- shots the first time, shots the second time," Kimsey said. "I keyed in it's not right. I was a little bit prepared, hair on the back of the neck standing up."




Kimsey saved at least six people. Read the rest of it HERE



LESSON TO BE LEARNED: COMBAT WILL SEEK YOU OUT WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT

• Never go unarmed in a combat zone.

• Never go unarmed, period.

• Never, EVER give a pissed-off Muslim with a sense of betrayal a chance to get the drop on you.

- S.L.

THERE IS A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL . . .

. . . for worthless pieces of human garbage who do things like this:

DOWNRIGHT EVIL: Families of Australian Soldiers in Afghanistan Receiving Death Hoax Calls

Hoaxsters in Australia are resorting to downright evil behavior; calling families of Australian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, then notifying them that the soldier has been wounded or killed.

Justin O`Brien writes about it in the Herald Sun.



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ENTER THE PACKING CRATE

U.S. Army Unveils 'Revolutionary' XM25 Rifle in Afghanistan

This concept has been kicking around for a few decades now; now they've finally figured it out and fielded the thing . . .

My only question is where do you fix the bayonet ? ? ?

ITs LIKE WE'RE ON A ROLL HERE

HERO DOG ACCIDENTALLY EUTHANIZED

Target, American Hero Dog.

Target, a dog who saved U.S. soldier's lives in Afghanistan - was accidentally euthanized yesterday at an Arizona animal shelter.

The dog had escaped from his backyard over the weekend. Target’s owner, Sgt. Terry Young, found out his dog had been killed when he showed up at the shelter to claim her.

The county is investigating the accidental euthanization at its Casa Grande shelter.

In Afghanistan, Target snapped and barked at a suicide bomber, who was trying to enter a building on a military base. The bomber instead set off his bomb in a doorway. Five soldiers were injured, several of whom credited Target with helping save their lives.

When he returned home, Young brought Target with him to his home in the Phoenix area.

Young said he found the gate to his backyard open on Friday morning, the day after Veterans Day.

Heather Murphy, a spokeswoman for Pinal County, said Target was found by a nearby resident, who put her in his backyard and called the pound.

Later that night Young saw Target’s picture on a website used by Pinal County’s animal control office, and, assuming the shelter was closed for the weekend, figured she would be safe until he could pick her up Monday.

When he arrived, he filled out some forms and a staff member brought him another dog. Young then showed the employee a picture of his dog. Then he waited for an hour.

According to the Republic, the director of the shelter told him there had been a mistake.



Mistake? OH HELL YEAH there's been a mistake! Here's an appropriate punishment: how about CASTRATION.



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SSG ROBERT J. MILLER, MEDAL OF HONOR, AFGHANISTAN

This one slipped under my radar screen somehow - S.L.

MEDAL OF HONOR TO GREEN BERET KILLED IN AFGHAN WAR

SSG Robert J. Miller, MOH

WASHINGTON (AP) October 6, 2010- In a ceremony that mixed pain, pride and determination, President Barack Obama on Wednesday awarded the Medal of Honor to a young Army Green Beret who saved his patrol by holding off a Taliban ambush in a snowy Afghan valley two winters ago.

He told the parents of Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller, "You gave your oldest son to America, and America is forever in your debt." Miller was killed in the ambush.

Miller, 24, was a Pashto-speaking Special Forces weapons expert who led a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol _ and allied aircraft _ in attacking a suspected Taliban compound in northwest Afghanistan's Kunar province, near the Pakistani border.

In pre-dawn darkness on Jan. 25, 2008, his patrol was moving in to survey the damage when a much larger Taliban force opened fire. After ordering his comrades to fall back, Miller rushed forward, firing his weapon and hurling grenades in a bid to draw off the enemy attack. In ferocious fighting, Miller seemed to disappear into clouds of dust and debris, but his team could hear him on the radio, still calling out the enemy's position . . . And then, over the radio, they heard his voice. He had been hit.

Accepting the award from Obama were Miller's parents, Philip and Maureen Miller, while all seven of his brothers and sisters _ and 12 members of his patrol _ looked on. Obama noted Miller's brother Tom is currently undergoing Green Beret training.

Miller, a native of Harrisburg, Pa., was the third U.S. service member from the Afghan conflict to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for gallantry

Honor him.



.

FOG OF WAR

SENIOR TALIBAN MEMBERS DENY PEACE TALKS


Recent headlines have spoken of negotiations between the U.S.-backed
Afghanistan government and the Taliban, but senior Taliban commanders
tell The Daily Beast's Mushtaq Yusufzai that high-level peace talks are
not happening. "This is another ploy by the enemy to divide the
Taliban," says Maulvi Kabir, a member of the Taliban's Rahbari Shura, or
leading council. However, the secret nature of the talks and the
decentralized structure of the Taliban make it difficult to tell who
speaks for whom.

Read it HERE


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ALLEGED DRUG USE, MURDER IN AFGHANISTAN

Allegations of Rampant Drug Use at Base in Afghanistan, and U.S. soldiers charged with murdering Afghan civilians.


If one percent of this story is true it is absolutely disgraceful. The fact that soldiers have actually been charged lends credibility to the allegations. -S.L.


An attorney for Corporal Jeremy Morlock, one of the soldiers charged in the case, describes a drug-filled base in Afghanistan, where he said many soldiers were often high during missions.

"Many people at that Fort (sic) Operating Base on Ramrod were smoking hash," Waddington said. "Much of the hash smoking that was going on involved hash-laced opium."

There are also allegations that at least one of the soldiers reached out for help back in the U.S., allegedly afraid his life would be in jeopardy if he spoke out on base about the killings.


Specialist Adam Winfield tried to blow the whistle, was afraid for his life.


Go to this site and watch the video of what the parents of one U.S. soldier claims - his story is disturbing and rings of truth - S.L.



POWDER-KEG SITUATION


SEATTLE (AP) - Those who have seen the photos say they are grisly: soldiers beside newly killed bodies, decaying corpses and severed fingers.

The dozens of photos, described in interviews and in e-mails and military documents obtained by The Associated Press, were seized by Army investigators and are a crucial part of the case against five soldiers accused of killing three Afghan civilians earlier this year.

Troops allegedly shared the photos by e-mail and thumb drive like electronic trading cards. Now 60 to 70 of them are being kept tightly shielded from the public and even defense attorneys because of fears they could wind up in the news media and provoke anti-American violence.


Read more HERE.


There is a common myth amongst liberals, left-wingers, the Anti-America crowd in general, that ALL U.S. military conducts itself like this. I have encountered these types in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and even here at home in the United States.

But the aspect of the situation they never seem to get is that whenever our military becomes aware of such conduct, the perpetrators are arrested, charged, tried and sent to prison. When the OTHER side conducts FAR WORSE as a deliberate tactic or plan - think of terrorist acts such as 9/11; think of the abduction and beheading of journalist Daniel Pearl - the SAME PEOPLE who are all about pointing fingers and casting blame at the U.S. military for war crimes, they become strangely silent, or they make apologies and reasons for how and why WE are to blame for "Why they hate us."

The enemy does far worse, and they get a pass.


SEAN LINNANE SENDS



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CIA WAR OF THE DRONES

The CIA is escalating its drone attacks in Pakistan, borrowing Predator and Reaper drones from the Pentagon to wage the fight against militants which the U.S. says the Pakistani military is unable or unwilling to do.




Last month, drone attacks increased to five per week, on average, up from about two or three a week. "When it comes to drones, there's no mission more important right now than hitting targets in the tribal areas, and that's where additional equipment's gone," one U.S. official said. American forces say that to make progress in Afghanistan, it must destroy the terrorist sanctuaries across the border, but the sharp spike in attacks is also intended to foil a possible terror plot, led by Osama bin Laden, in Western Europe.


Wall Street Journal



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One in 10 Inmates in Britain’s Jails Is an Ex-Soldier

British troops in Helmand Province in 2009. Shocking figures show nearly one in 10 prisoners in England are veterans

It is not clear how many – if any – of the ex-soldiers behind bars are non-combat veterans:

The Government was under fire for failing to support British troops returning from war today after figures revealed nearly one in 10 prisoners is an Armed Forces veteran.

Shocking research by the probation officers’ union Napo shows some 8,500 former soldiers are currently in prison in England and Wales.

Another 12,000 have criminal convictions and are on the books of the Probation Service.

This means there are more than twice as many veterans in jail, on probation or on parole in the UK than the number of troops currently serving in Afghanistan.

Veterans in Scotland and Northern Ireland are not included, meaning the true figure is likely to be much higher. . . .

Domestic violence was by far the most likely conviction for a veteran, accounting for one in three cases. Other violent crimes accounted for around one in five convictions.

One in four said they had post-traumatic stress disorder, but many went undiagnosed. Others cited depression and behavioural problems.

The group who took part included veterans from the conflicts in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.


Read more here.


This story is already a year old; it just came across my radar screen. I wonder what the statistics are for other Commonwealth countires, and for American veterans? - Sean Linnane



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A LIVING HERO

It is becoming increasingly rare for a living member of the U.S. military to receive the Medal of Honor.

Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta will become the first living service member from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor; this will be the eighth Medal of Honor bestowed since September 11th, 2001.




Giunta, 25, of Hiawatha, Iowa, was serving as a rifle team leader with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment when an insurgent ambush split his squad into two groups on Oct. 25, 2007, in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan.

Giunta went above and beyond the call of duty when he exposed himself to enemy gunfire to try to save two fellow soldiers in a deadly ambush. He engaged the enemy again when he saw two insurgents carrying away a wounded soldier, Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan, 22, of McFarland, Wis. Giunta killed one insurgent and wounded the other before tending to Brennan, who died the next day.




Read the entire story here.