StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

Despite the relative calm and void of terrorist attacks on US soil, we are nonetheless a Nation at war. We all must remain vigilent and report anything, as a DHS agent said in a recent presentation that I attended, that “Doesn’t Look Right.” I some circles, a rumor of an attack on October 7 2008 had been spread. The concern is that the source of the initial analysis that was flawed, not that bloggers became the conduit of mis-information.

To think that a self-proclaimed homeland security expert (see this older post from Debbie Schlussel titled, UH-OH! Northeast “Intelligence” Network Steps In It: Fake “Terrorism Expert” Douglas Hagmann Admits Plagiarism, Fabricated Info), a “font of information” with a lack of credibility, and yet a large following (notably among only those who refuse to accept the fact that the National Intelligence Network - or NIN - and its self-proclaimed “experts” are not experts at all) actually knows more than any of our law enforcement agencies (DHS, FBI, NSA etc.) or know more than excessively credible counterterrorism websites and sources of information (one among the many being the Counterterrorism Blog), is what makes the “chicken little/sky is falling” hurricane of words, and bits and bytes, more distrubing. Ask the intelligent question, rather than relying on an unreliable source like NIN. Would none of these credible sources have written something to alert the citizenry if this supposed threat had any merit?

Of course, the argument will always be, “better right than sorry,” or “don’t worry about or be embarrassed for being wrong.” That’s all true. The problem is the source of the information, not the intention of the bloggers who spread the illicit rumor.

In my opinion, spreading an unsubstantiated rumor from a less than credible source, is exactly what the terrorists want. The more often the populace is in any way alerted to an impending terrorist attack, the more desensitized the populace will become, and the less likely they are as a broad population to be ready to respond and react when the real terrorist alert comes. Since I am passed the point of caring, the simple point is that bloggers who choose to spread information from less than credible sources, then “bicycle the blog articles around to other bloggers” do this country a huge disservice. I’m not calling these citizen journalists anything like “unpatriotic.” Quite the opposite, they are doing what they feel is the right and patriotic thing to do (albeit perhaps they are quite naive). But in spreading misinformation and bad intelligence from a less than “intelligent” source, they are not serving the public good. Thousands of people, maybe hundreds of thousands people, walked around the last few weeks thinking that we were going to be attacked yesterday, and yet, we were not attacked.

In my entire circle of friends and associates, many of whom are in the business of counterterrorism and law enforcement and national security, none ever even mentioned the rumored attacks of October 7th, 2008. That is not to say that another attack on US soil is not coming. Someday, regettably, I believe that we will be attacked, and perhaps that attack will happen sooner than later. Perhaps, even, that attack will come from within, from a US based terrorist group, maybe not even one connected to the jihad.

One thing is certain to me (and I care not about any flack I might take for writing this entry or for what I am about to say).

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

October 7, terrorism

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I want to speak with the “bloggers” who think that Afghanistan is out of the woods! or that the Taliban is dead and gone! Two more SEALs (members of what used to be called SEAL Team 6) died earlier this week in Afganistan on a super secret mission. Leaving behind a wife and daughter each were Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator John Wayne Marcum, 34, and Chief (select) Special Warfare Operator Jason Richard Freiwald, 30.

Two G.I.s were slain in Afghanistan Wednesday, bringing the total to 113, plus 101 other foreign troops who have died. Last year’s U.S. death toll was 111.

For any of you people who blindly wave a flag and think that it makes you patriotic, recognize the following:

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress Tuesday: “I’m not convinced we’re winning in Afghanistan.”

Hat-tip to CTB (again) for the top notch posts.

Killed last week were Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator John Wayne Marcum, 34, and Chief (select) Special Warfare Operator Jason Richard Freiwald, 30, the Navy said. Each man had served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was a highly decorated SEAL. Before Harris, no DEVGRU SEAL had fallen in Afghanistan since March 2002, according to a review of Operation Enduring Freedom deaths at iCasualties.org.

This War on Terror is far from over. Anyone who thinks that a few positive press releases makes a victory is simply ignorant.

Chief (select) Special Warfare Operator Jason Richard Freiwald, SEAL Team 6, Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator John Wayne Marcum

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Wake Up! There is no doubt in my feable mind that when I wrote Losing Afghanistan (Reduxed Again) nearly 10 months ago that I either guessed really well, or I was simply, right! I vote for “right.” This position is supported by Doug Farah’s post, “Trying to Get it Right in Afghanistan, and Ignoring the Elephant in the Room”

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has sounded the alarm on Afghanistan, correctly pointing out that the danger of losing there is real and the hour is late.

It is fitting, on this day, to remember that our collective inability to get Afghanistan right once before helped give our enemies the opportunity to plan and execute the 9/11 attacks that are being remembered today.

What is striking about the published reports of Mullen and Defense Secretary Gates is the absence of any discussion of one of the driving forces of the Taliban’s mounting success: its access to tens of millions of dollars in opium and poppy money. The UN conservatively estimates the Taliban makes between $50 million and $70 million a year from the drug trade.

Oh, sure, some of my supposed counterterrorism blogger cohorts might offer a different view. Of course, it has been argued more than once before that Afghanistan was on the road to recovery and democracy. My opinion has consistently been contrary to that. I’ve been accused of being unpatriotic, I’ve been accused of not supporting our troops who were acclaimed as having been victorious against the “defeated” Taliban, and for my point of view, I have been called a “librul.”

Still, Afghanistan remains on the brink. Hamid Karzai has an attitude that may only be solved by his assassination. To stop this very real resurgence of the Taliban, their supply of money needs to be chopped off.

If the US and NATO is serious about improving the situation on the ground in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s money stream must be cut off. That stream is heavily dependent on opium. Ignoring that reality is not a policy.

History repeats. Sometimes we have the ability to stop it. Other times, we ignore the obvious. If you’re at all interested in reading further, you can review some of the historical Storm posts on the subject of Losing Afghanistan. Its time to open your eyes…unless you want to be “surprised” in a few months by events as they evolve.

Losing Afghanistan, poppy trade, Taliban

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I am an American - “Ich bin New Yorker.”

Each day, every day, I remember the moments of September 11th.  Even though I am no longer living there,  to paraphrase JFK, "Ich bin New Yorker."  Perhaps on September 11, 2001 at 8:48am, we were all at once New Yorkers, or all a unified group of Americans.

Our resolve as a country, however, has waned.  It is not that we as a citizenry forget…it is that the message has been blended with the War in Iraq.  We are at war and it is a War on Global Islamic Fundamentalist Jihadism.  Its not politically correct perhaps, but it is what it is.

Today, we will each in our ways remember that morning.  I will, as I do each year now, remember, and I will relate my stories of what I saw and how I felt.  And I will, whether in public or simply to myself, sing "America the Beautiful" or "God Bless America" (I sound nothing like Kate Smith)…and I will shed tears for those who perished, and shed even more tears for the permanent and perpetual changes to our lives that began at that moment.

Some of what I have written in retrospect about this day, September 11th.

Written September 12, 2001:
Amazing how far and how much my "non-combative" spirit of the 60’s and 70’s has turned more conservative. No doubt, for me, and others like me, yesterday was unlike any day we have ever experienced. As a post-war baby-boomer, there are nothing but newsreels to show us Pearl Harbor. Yesterday interrupted me from leaving for work, stopped me in my tracks, made me quiet, caused tears, and created anger. And then, fear of what might have happened to people that I knew. Right now, I suppose that I am lucky, if that is the word, that no one in my immediate family, or that of my ex-wife, or even friends of my daughter were not directly involved. But this afternoon, I spoke to a friend of mine in WDC who was resigned to having lost dozens of long-time friends and associates who were in the section of the Pentagon that was obliterated. And he reminded me that this particular section was the one in which he and I had met for a series of meetings two years ago. And the realization, however distant two years makes it, that I had walked the halls of that building where now, there is nothing but rubble. And then there is a "near-miss" story told to me by a friend whose youngest daughter passed away in March from complications from a digestive disorder. His oldest daughter works for a fashion designer in Manhattan and was supposed to go to Los Angeles yesterday morning on the flight that crashed after leaving Newark Airport. Because her dad, my friend was coming east to be with his father-in-law who is sick, she decided to stay. She assigned her assistant to go in her place. As luck would have it, the assistant didn’t want to leave that early, so she rescheduled to a later flight.

She was at the airport when word came of the crashes.

In principal, believe in peace. But there is no principal in my opinion in this situation.

Retribution and retaliation. Strong and final. I make no apologies for my feelings.

Written September 13, 2001:
I am an American, who has cried and trembled at the sights on TV.

I am an American, with compassion, yet anger.

I am an American, who once fought against fighting.

Yet tonight, I am an American, who wants nothing less than retaliation and full retribution.

I am an American, despite what others once thought when it was clear that I disagreed with some of the more American fundamentalist views. 

Somehow, some believe that this is the time for reconciliation with friends of old. This is a free country, with freedom of speech and freedom of movement, but some of us do not have that choice, since we were selectively excluded from that exclusive "club of patriots" and have no desire to change what is, or return to
what was (of course, in truth, I speak only for myself). This is a time of great stress and emotion. I have cried spontaneously since Tuesday morning, and my anger has grown about what has happened. It doesn’t change what was or happened.

I am who I am, and what I am. I make no apologies for that.

Written June 24, 2005
"Everything Changed on September 11, 2001"

The morning of September 11, 2001, we all became one, we all came together, the Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate stood on the steps of the Capitol Building and sang God Bless America. That morning, every one of us felt the emotions and feelings of being attacked. Every one of us, not just Democrats and Republicans, not just “Liberals” and “Conservatives,” but all of us as Americans.

During those days and nights that followed, we all knew the meaning of this is my country, land that I love!  Every one of us, not just Democrats and
Republicans, not just “Liberals” and “Conservatives,” but all of us as Americans.

So lets all do me a favor! Okay??? (Tongue planted in cheek, and no obligation, for sure!)

Don’t tell me how to think, just because you happen to disagree with me. Just what makes you think that you are right, and I am wrong? We are all Americans, or have you forgotten that?

Don’t tell me that I am any less patriotic than you are, just because you believe one thing and I believe another. Do you understand that “love of country” permits the questioning of authority and the decisions made by the Government? Ever hear the phrase, “my country right or wrong?” If I choose, I can disagree with the position of our Government, and it does not mean that I am any less patriotic than those who agree with our Government. We simply disagree. But we are all Americans, or have you forgotten that?

If you served in the military, you have my admiration and respect. But don’t flaunt that service in my face and imply that somehow you are a “better American” than I or that your service to our country was somehow qualitatively better than mine. Because if you don’t know what I am doing, and you don’t understand the qualitative benefits that I am striving to offer our country, than you just shouldn’t do it. We are all Americans, you and I, or have you forgotten that?

Don’t tell me how (or if) I should pray to the Higher Being, because each and everyone of us has the right to freedom of religion granted to us by our Founding Fathers. If I believe that the Higher Being is actually beneath the soil and not in the Heavens above, who are you to question my belief or to belittle what I believe. It is my right as an American to believe whatever it is that I believe. And yet, we are all Americans, or have you forgotten that?

Don’t do it! Don’t tell me how I should feel, or try to make me feel any less of an American because you have a different point of view, and you somehow feel compelled to try to either convert me to your position, or belittle me for holding my opinions. Don’t do it! It makes you less of an American than I. Don’t do it! If you feel so strongly about your views, then fine, I am happy for you. But that doesn’t give you the right to belittle, denigrate or otherwise ridicule a position that disagrees with yours.

As an American, you have the Freedom of Speech and you have the Freedom of Religion, but neither gives you the freedom to minimize, denigrate belittle or otherwise disrespect whatever it is that I believe, think or feel. You don’t have the right to tell me how to pray to the Higher Being. You don’t have the right to belittle me, just because you disagree with me.

Many here served in the military. Still, others, including me, serve our country in different ways. There is no telling how many lives my efforts will save if we are successful in our current campaign. And it will be done in anonymity. And yet, I am an American, just like you.

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As we approach the 7 year mark post Sept 11th, Americans need to be reminded about the prupose of the War on Terrorism. Actually, we shouldn’t need it. But as President Bush prepares to leave office, he is seeking to re-affirm that we are at war with al Qaeda.

Sound strange? Well, I’ve been concerned about American complacency from when the last of the public funerals of those who died in the attacks. And yet, partly because of the passage of time, and partly because the focus of attention has been on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran as pieces of geography instead of battlegrounds in the war versus al Qaeda. It was al Qaeda that attacked us on September 11, 2001. It was al Qaeda that attacked us at the USS Cole and at the African embassies.

Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush’s advisers assert that many Americans may have forgotten that. So they want Congress to say so and “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”

The language, part of a proposal for hearing legal appeals from detainees at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, goes beyond political symbolism. Echoing a measure that Congress passed just days after the Sept. 11 attacks, it carries significant legal and public policy implications for Mr. Bush, and potentially his successor, to claim the imprimatur of Congress to use the tools of war, including detention, interrogation and surveillance, against the enemy, legal and political analysts say.

Some lawmakers are concerned that the administration’s effort to declare anew a war footing is an 11th-hour maneuver to re-establish its broad interpretation of the president’s wartime powers, even in the face of challenges from the Supreme Court and Congress.

If not in any other way, this Global War on Terrorism has been miserably mismanaged. September 11th was not and should not be treated as a singular event in history. Aside from the fact that other al Qaeda attacks pre-date Sept. 11th, the question now is how the war will be waged following the election of the next President

Perhaps the attempt to tuck language into legislation is a bit “funky,” but the fact is that too many Americans have lost focus. Many of those Americans are on Capitol Hill. Sadly my dear reader, we have lost our way in my opinion. Paraphrasing: if we forget history, it will repeat itself. We are at a cross roads in our Nation’s history. If we choose wisely, we may actually remain vigilent and remain prepared for the coming of the next attack on our Homeland. “Choose wisely grasshopper” when voting this November. There is only one real choise, and his name is John McCain.

Global War on Terrorism

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One of my previous posts, Who Mourns Our Fallen Soldiers, prompted a comment from someone whose voice needs to be heard. His message and story is worth reading. Clearly, while agreeing with some of what I write, he did express a disagreement with parts of this particular post (see my explanation below). Here is the comment, converted into a well-deserved place on this blog as a single post.

From a Soldier writing from a dot mil email address:

I realize this post may never be read, but I wanted to let everyone know that I am a US Army Reservist presently attached to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division headquartered at FOB Iskan, just across the Euphrates River from Jurf as Sahkr, Iraq. Jurf as Sahkr, or “Jurf” to those of us who patrol the area on a daily basis, was one of the last AQI strongholds in Anbar Province. This area was only recently “awakened” by the Coalition Forces. I’ve been here for months now, doing the dirty work of convincing the locals that we are right and AQI is bad and so on, but my primary concern was to locate the remains of our MIA Soldiers. For the past year, we never gave up on those Soldiers. We conducted leaflet drops from Blackhawk helicopters, blared messages of support to them (although we were quite certain they had been murdered) and messages to the enemy that we would not rest until they were found. I can assure you that the every measure to locate those brave men was taken (within the boundaries of the Law of Warfare, of course). Although I can not tell you how we collected the information that led to the recovery of these men’s remains, I can tell you that it was most certainly not a “message” from AQI. AQI heard our “message” in Jurf as Sahkr, and it was usually delivered with precision guided missiles and 25mm machine-gun spitting hell’s fire from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. These days, violence in Jurf has fallen to the lowest level since 2003. We are discovering enormous weapons caches that the fleeing AQI cowards could not take with them and uncovering DBIEDs (Deep-Buried IED) that have laid dormant for years. We are rebuilding schools, medical clinics, and local governance centers. Since the recovery of SGT Jimenez and PFC Fouty, the Government of Iraq and Coalition Forces have opened up their wallets to the good people of Jurf and the level cooperation with and gratuity for the Soldiers of the Iraqi and American military is overwhelming. Keep in mind that most of the residents of rural areas, where AQI dominated every aspect of life, fled their homes to avoid those murderous bastards and returned to find leveled homes and slaughtered livestock (both common tactics, techniques, and procedures of AQI members prior to their departure). These people came out to the hasty burial site of our Soldiers because what we found was not just the remains of our Fallen, but those of some 60 locals who stood up to AQI and were executed en masse.

I appreciate the forum and look forward to reading more of your informative and entertaining posts!
Sincerely,
Matt

My comment: There is some technology still in development, and perhaps soon to be (or maybe not), that might have assisted in the search and rescue early on. Who knows?

Jurf, Jurf as Sahkr, SGT Jimenez and PFC Fouty

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Our Nation’s history had begun a bit more than 225 years earlier, but for us all, time stopped at 8:46am Eastern time on September 11, 2001 when American Flight 11 hit the North Tower. I measure time now in the days and weeks and months since that moment, and cannot keep the tears from my eyes when I think of that moment or hear our National Anthem or other patriotic hymns. Those moments, from the shut down of the bridges and tunnels in NY City at 9:21am, to the collapse of the South Tower at 10:05am followed by the North Tower only 23 minutes later are a mark of time.

Right after the attacks, leading to the Joint Session of Congress, to the bi-partisan gathering on the steps of the Capitol Building, to the National Prayer Service on September 14th…

…we thought, felt and acted as one unified body of citizens.

What happened? One of my readers recently wrote, and I will refrain his comment here now…which for the most part, I agree with…

I remember the time immediately “following the attacks of Sept. 11, we were once again united, many people from many walks of life at a moment of great dispair.” Shortly after, on the 12th or 13th, my town had a patriotic parade. All the Memorial Day flags were flown from the street lamps and people in cars and pick-ups drove up and down the main street honking their horns, yelling, and waving flags. They were united.

Maybe my wife Neve and I are wired differently than most people, but we had a feeling of dread on that night. We are not the type of people who are easily pulled into the herd - though we may want to be at times. We worried that the folks honking and screaming, while supportive of the US, didn’t really know what was going on. Our friends gave us dissapproving looks for not joining in the party atmosphere.

Now, almost 7 years later, I think I see where the dread was pointing. This unity that felt so good, this clarity of purpose and assertion of absolute right — was used. It morphed into fear and silence — fear of being branded as unpatriotic and silence instead of discussion.

I really do feel that many of the mistakes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the larger War on Terror, flowed directly from ‘moment of unity’. The checks and balances were removed, and instead of the Nation moving as one great force, political factions and interests used the opportunity to further their own agenda - to the detriment of their political foes, to the detriment a war effort, and to the great detriment of the Nation.

We all need to remember who we are People! Tonight, it is time to remember that we are “Americans, all.” We are not Black or White, Jewish or Christian or Muslim or Bhuddist or Hindu or atheist. We are “Americans, all.” If we forget that…if we lose sight of that, then we are doomed. Yes, we are doomed, because the terrorist attacks will have split us apart.

Be moved by Whitney Houston’s rendition. I cry when I watch it. I am, after all, an American.

And thanks to Right Truth for the link to the National Anthem (and for a reminder of who we are, and who are not).

4th of July, September 11th

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