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About that Bergdahl thing….

I’ve received numerous emails, texts, and Facebook messages asking me my opinion on the Bowe Bergdahl release/swap for five Taliban commanders, and to each I replied, “There’s too much smoke and not enough fact.  Everything is political posturing”, and that’s where I still stand, but the cacophony in the press has gotten so loud it’s obscuring whatever truth remains.  The only thing I’m going to try to do is clear the air regarding some of the information out in the media. For instance, on the left, at the [...]

By |2014-06-06T23:58:36-04:00June 6th, 2014|Blog|6 Comments

Snowden’s a spy? Uhhh….Maybe on Halloween.

Every time Edward Snowden opens his mouth, another fabrication appears.  In an interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams, he apparently took affront to being called a “simple hacker” and took great pains to explain that he was, in fact, just like James Bond. "I was trained as a spy in sort of the traditional sense of the word, in that I lived and worked undercover overseas — pretending to work in a job that I'm not — and even being assigned a name that was not mine," Uh…no.  [...]

By |2023-12-13T15:00:37-05:00May 29th, 2014|Blog|5 Comments

GI Jennifer Part II – Careful What You Wish For

After my first GI Jennifer blog about opening combat arms positions to women I received numerous emails and comments from all sides of the spectrum.  One thread that kept reoccurring was that if a woman could meet the standard, she should be allowed to enter the combat MOS, whatever that may be.  For elite units, this argument is fine, as they are all volunteer organizations, but for the average combat arms position, such as Infantry, Field Artillery, or Armor, the more I thought about it, the more unfair [...]

By |2014-04-16T16:55:31-04:00April 16th, 2014|Blog|13 Comments

GI Jennifer

When the Department of Defense announced that it would be opening combat roles to women, I immediately began receiving questions regarding my opinion on this issue.  I strove mightily to be noncommittal, and begged off for the most part because I really didn’t want to poke the sore.  Then, a couple of days ago, 2LT Sage Santegelo wrote an OpEd in the Washington post decrying the “double standard” she endured, which made her fail the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course, and so I decided to blog.  Against my [...]

By |2022-01-29T15:46:03-05:00April 2nd, 2014|Blog|22 Comments

In the days of my youth I was told what it means to be a man…

Living in Charleston, South Carolina can be a little funny at times.  Today was supposed to be “Snowmageddon”, with a light dusting of the fluffy stuff and the commensurate shutting down of any and all services.  My kids left school early, and we all waited.  By nine pm it hadn’t hit and I had to take the dog for a walk. As I turned the corner of our street, the rain/sleet finally began to fall, and the weather snapped my memory to times that I had once hated, [...]

By |2022-01-29T15:47:13-05:00January 28th, 2014|Blog|30 Comments

No Al Qaida in Benghazi? Someone’s drinking the Kool-aid…

The New York Times presented a lengthy report on the Benghazi attack in its Sunday edition (12/29), and one of its central tenants was that the attackers had no connection to al Qaeda.  Specifically, there was “no evidence that al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault.”  I was flabbergasted.  No evidence?  And not “any role”?  Seriously?  Pretty strong, quantifiable words.  I could live with “not a preponderance of evidence leading to the conclusion that al Qaeda senior leadership directed the attack.” Or, [...]

By |2013-12-30T14:05:11-05:00December 30th, 2013|Blog|3 Comments

All Snowden wants for Christmas is Amnesty. He’s asking Santa for the Wrong Thing.

Last Sunday on Sixty Minutes, the lead NSA investigator -- tasked with determining how much damage Edward Snowden has done to national security -- floated the idea of giving him amnesty to entice him to return to the U.S. and bring back everything he stole.  The head of the NSA, General Alexander, was not of the same mind. He compared Snowden to a hostage taker that kills ten people then asks for amnesty if he’ll release the rest.  I agree with Alexander, but not for the reasons he [...]

By |2013-12-17T19:52:44-05:00December 17th, 2013|Blog|13 Comments

The Libyan Conundrum Part V: The Enemy Has a Vote

Well, it looks like this administration is finally realizing that just proclaiming victory doesn’t make it so.  Before we went into Libya, I blogged that it would devolve into a mess without a heavy stability and support operation (SASO) on our part, and that the administration was rightfully hesitant to conduct a no-fly zone due to these realities.  The administration then ignored my prescient blog and went ahead with “leading from behind”, with President Obama proclaiming No Boots on the Ground in Libya.  We applied our air power, [...]

By |2013-11-19T11:24:52-05:00November 19th, 2013|Blog|2 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum Part II: From Russia With Love

What a clown-fest.  I’ve wanted to update my latest Syria blog, but one bizarre thing after another kept occurring.  First, Secretary of State Kerry gave an impassioned speech on why we should immediately strike Assad, and, as I said in my last blog, I agreed with him (yes, that’s past tense).  Instead of using his legal powers as president to strike, as Kerry implied would happen, President Obama backed up and asked congress for permission.  Secretary Kerry, in an odd choice of words, scared the pants off of [...]

By |2013-09-12T22:12:08-04:00September 12th, 2013|Blog|7 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum

Syria is all over the news lately, and much like Libya before it, I haven’t heard a lot of talk focused on the correct issues.  Most of the discussion centers around attaining UN or congressional approval, what the U.S. will strike, proof Assad is a crazy man, or the timing.  Then, in the middle of this week, the UK decided they weren’t going to play.  The administration’s response to this news provided the first solid words of sanity after more than two years of misguided foreign policy adventures.  [...]

By |2013-08-31T13:07:15-04:00August 31st, 2013|Blog|6 Comments
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