James Landrith - Taking The Gloves Off

Some Leathernecks Have Let Me Down

I was really hoping there would be no Marines implicated in this shit.

Devildogs, you can't do this kind of thing. Remember, we are better than this. It isn't about "they'd do the same thing to us!" Its about our own sense of honor, pride and adherence to the rule of law. We don't torture our prisoners of war. We. Just. Don't. We treat them according to our training, the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Why? Because we come from a country that is supposed to boldly stand for justice and liberty, not the shameful imitation of dictators and Banana Republic thuggery.

Now then, these two Marines had the right, as they and every other Marine have been instructed in the past, to disobey an unlawful order. That may seem like an impossible task to a young PFC, so I partially sympathize with them on that part. The consequences would have been heavy and possibly career-ending, but they wouldn't be heading to jail for prisoner abuse right now. Further, they wouldn't be looking shamefully at themselves in the mirror ten years from now, asking "why didn't I refuse that order?" As hard as it would have been, they still had the right and the responsibility to say "not me." They carried out the unlawful order when they could have refused, unpleasant as that would have been. There is a price to be paid for such.

As far as the sentences for the two PFCs go, I am fine with that, so long as the officers, SNCOs and NCOs in their chain of command (assuming they knew of the abuses) get slapped down three times as hard. Don't stop with these two young Marines and let the old salts get away with giving the order for the abuses, looking the other way or doing the "wink-wink." The higher up the chain of the command this goes, the more severe of a penalty should be attached.

I don't want to to hear about these two PFCs going to jail while their supervisors simply get off with career-ending Fitness Reports. That would be completely unsat. My real anger and disgust is directed at those NCOs, SNCOs and officers who sanctioned this behavior. They should have never put these two young Marines in the position of having to carry out an unlawful order in the first place.

And it had better cost them more than their careers.

Semper Fi.

Sergeant James Landrith
United States Marine Corps
and Gulf War Veteran

Dr. No on Appointing "Representatives"

The Honorable Ron Paul on "H.J.Res. 83, which amends the United States Constitution to allow appointed persons to fill vacancies in the House of Representatives in the event of an emergency" in The House of Representatives Must Be Elected!

Mr. Speaker, there are those who say that the power of appointment is necessary in order to preserve checks and balances and thus prevent an abuse of executive power. Of course, I agree that it is very important to carefully guard our constitutional liberties in times of crisis, and that an over-centralization of power in the executive branch is one of the most serious dangers to that liberty. However, Mr. Speaker, during a time of crisis it is all the more important to have representatives accountable to the people making the laws. Otherwise, the citizenry has no check on the inevitable tendency of government to infringe on the people’s liberties at such a time. I would remind my colleagues that the only reason we are reexamining provisions of the PATRIOT Act is because of public concerns that this Act gives up too much liberty for a phantom security. Appointed officials would not be as responsive to public concerns.

As Rep Paul said later in his statement, "...it alters the Constitution to deny the people their right to elect their representatives at a time when having elected representation may be most crucial."

Call me crazy, but maybe that's the whole point.

Veterans for Common Sense News Update

Tens of Thousands Ask Bush to Honor the Legacy of World War II
Posted: 2004-05-31 11:36:00.000

The Bush orthodoxy is in shreds: FBI Questions Neo-Cons about Chalabi Treason Case
Posted: 2004-05-31 11:46:00.000

Marine General: Top Bush Aides Should Resign due to Iraq War Failures
Posted: 2004-05-31 12:50:00.000

Cheney Approved Multi-Billion No-Bid Iraq War Contract for Halliburton
Posted: 2004-05-31 12:55:00.000

Administration Relied on Iranian Spy as Source to Start Iraq War
Posted: 2004-05-31 13:45:00.000

Veterans for Common Sense News Update

The "Tuguba Report" - ARTICLE 15-6 INVESTIGATION OF THE 800th MP BRIGADE
Posted: 2004-05-06 19:38:00.000

**U.S. Casualties Soar: 767 Killed and 40,000 Medical Evacuations**
Posted: 2004-05-06 22:32:00.000

Sometimes They Pretended to Kill Me
Posted: 2004-05-08 17:29:00.000

More Disturbing News About Abu Ghraib
Posted: 2004-05-09 22:56:00.000

New Bill Introduced to Assist Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans
Posted: 2004-05-12 21:52:00.000

Kerry Says Bush Broke Faith With Veterans
Posted: 2004-05-13 21:57:00.000

New Iraq War Policy: Bush Plans to Cut and Run
Posted: 2004-05-15 09:40:00.000

U.S. Holds 10,000 in Secret Prisons
Posted: 2004-05-15 09:49:00.000

Bush Knew of Rumsfeld's Torture Plans
Posted: 2004-05-16 13:37:00.000

As many as 22,000 Iraq, Afghan war veterans already seek care from VA system
Posted: 2004-05-16 19:13:00.000

U.S. Military Accused of Beating TV Reporting Staff
Posted: 2004-05-19 06:08:00.000

Secret White House Memos Advised Bush that His Torture Policy was a "War Crime"
Posted: 2004-05-19 06:12:00.000

Pentagon Stonewalls ACLU - VCS Request for Iraq War Torture Documents
Posted: 2004-05-21 22:05:00.000

The Wheels Fall Off: Iraq War Goes to Hell in a Hand Basket
Posted: 2004-05-22 11:17:00.000

Higgs on War Crimes

Robert Higgs, an anti-interventionist libertarian and Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, on Has the U.S. Government Committed War Crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq?:

If today the U.S. government were to put itself on trial, on the same basis it employed to try the Nazis at Nuremberg, for actions taken in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years, it might have to convict itself—if only for the sake of consistency. Justice is no respecter of person. Can anyone sincerely maintain that what was a crime for Hermann Goering and Alfred Jodl is not equally a crime for Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney?

Read the rest here.

VCS/EPIC Petition

The Education for Peace in Iraq Center and Veterans for Common Sense - two organizations founded by Gulf War veterans - have launched a joint petition inspired by the inhumane treatment of some of the prisoners of war in Iraq. As I've done in the past, I'll be serving as one of the media contacts for this campaign. So, get thee to signing this petition and spread the word so we can generate some decent media coverage.

That is all.

Thanks

Special thanks to Stephanie Lenz of Toasted Cheese for her mention of Taking The Gloves Off and A Mixed Blog in her May 15 column for Absolute Blank titled Begin The Blogging. Stephanie has a blog as well - so anyway... Thanks again.

Lost in Space

Dr. Ivan Eland, an anti-interventionist libertarian and Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at the Independent Institute, on Mr. President, What Planet Are You On?

In “Spin City,” the nation’s capital, presidential administrations often believe their own propaganda. The Bush administration, however, has been especially self-delusional—particularly when it comes to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Not since the Johnson and Nixon administrations during the Vietnam War and Watergate has an administration been in such denial about its policy course. Like a naïve fawn caught in the headlights, the Bush crowd seems paralyzed and condemned to the oncoming crash.

Legislative hawks such as John McCain (R-AZ) and John Murtha (D-PA), neither of whom may have the president’s best interests at heart, have advocated sending more troops into the quicksand of Mesopotamia. But even with an additional 300,000 troops, the U.S. would still be unable to pacify a country in which public opinion has largely turned its back on the occupation. The burgeoning prison torture scandal has driven the last nail into the coffin of a botched U.S. occupation. It is unlikely that the anti-U.S. feelings of the Iraqi population—instigated by more than a decade of grinding U.S.-led economic sanctions and an invasion—can now be reversed.

Read the rest here. This entry also posted at Stand Down.

More on "Support"

Sergeant Major Michael Gaddy writing for The Price of Liberty on It Depends On Your Definition of "Support The Troops":

The absolute worse phrase to come out of this mess is “ supporting the troops.” Bush and the Neocons want to be sure we all support the war. In order to insure that in their minds, they must insist that supporting the war is supporting the troops. They actually don't give a damn about the troops, as the letter included in this article will show.

Someday, perhaps before it is too late, Americans will realize that all the people who run the State are concerned with nothing but money. If it takes the blood of our children to grease the wheels of the military industrial complex so it and their cronies can prosper financially, then so be it.

In other words, War is a Racket. The following quote is from a letter sent to the Sergeant Major by a real Soldier, not the discredited propaganda pieces written by an Army officer that have been published nationwide or the pro-war letter where a Navy Corpsman (Sailor) forgets what branch he enlisted in by repeatedly calling himself a Soldier:

On my way out of Iraq (due to medevac) I talked to alot of friends in elements coming and going from a Logistical Support Area. Many had the same story. Soldiers dying from senseless lack of proper equipment. I know and you know who is to blame for this. I know you had probably heard about the shortage. But this puts a face on the loss. I can give you the names of the casualties that night if necessary. It was a bad bad night, played out all over the shithole that is the quagmire we call Iraq.

The Soldier who wrote the letter above is specifically talking about the shameful lack of protection gear issued to our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read the rest of his letter as part of Sergeant Major Gaddy's commentary here.

Answer this if you dare pro-war crowd: If you truly support the troops, why did we rush to war, only to send them in with mostly Vietnam era flack jackets (like I wore in Gulf War I)? Why do you (hawks, LINOs, neo-cons and "realists") continue to ignore this shameful story while shouting "Support the Troops" from the safety of your sofas?

Because ya'll don't really care. Its all about politics and high school-esque bravado. You don't really give a shit about the men and women dying for your cause. If you did, you'd be raising Hell about this and a hundred other equipment, pay, housing and medical challenges facing the men and women you sent to die in the desert.

UPDATE: Taking The Gloves Off is getting mad, crazy traffic from WHATREALLYHAPPENED.COM, Antiwar.com Blog, and UnFairWitness. Thanks guys - if you aren't already blogrolled, I'll add you today.

Independent Institute Answers Administration

From my libertarian friends at the Independent Institute:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Brigid O'Neil (510) 632-1366 Tuesday, May 25, 2004

STATEMENT OF INSTITUTE'S SENIOR FELLOW FOR FOREIGN POLICY ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S SPEECH

"Like a deer caught in the headlights, the Bush administration is paralyzed in the face of imminent danger."

OAKLAND, CALIF. - Ivan Eland, senior fellow for foreign policy at the Independent Institute and director of the Institute's Center for Peace and Liberty, issued the following statement today regarding President Bush's speech at the Army War College:

"George W. Bush's May 24th speech on Iraq at the Army War College was designed to show that the president has a definite plan for Iraq's future. But the lack of details provided about the imminent transfer of 'full sovereignty' to the Iraqis indicates quite the opposite and that the word 'full' should be changed to 'minimal.' The only new detail provided was the symbolic fluff of pledging to destroy the Abu Ghraib prison, which will do little to repair the monumental damage to the coalition war effort by U.S. torture perpetrated there. Like a deer caught in the headlights, the Bush administration is paralyzed in the face of imminent danger. In the face of growing Iraqi hostility toward the U.S. occupation and eroding popularity of the war and president at home, Bush's speech indicates that he will merely try to muddle through. On the ground, the Bush administration has given up the risky goal of disarming the numerous Iraqi militias and is now attempting to co-opt them in order to hold down U.S. casualties until the U.S. presidential election. In a unified Iraq, this strategy is recipe for eventual civil war. Instead the president needs a bold plan of genuine Iraqi self-determination--what would probably amount to a loose confederation of Iraqi ethnic/religious groups or even three or more independent states--and withdrawal of U.S. forces."

- 30 -

Its always nice to hear from real libertarians, instead of the LINO apologists who view any criticism of the current Administration or the war as some form of new treason.

Weapons of Mysterious Disposition (Again)

(Gloves Coming Off)

Strangely enough, the tons of sarin and cyclosarin sitting all over Iraq still have not been found, yet it is anti-interventionists getting raked over the coals over one old, non-working sarin grenade. Did I expect to find some chemical weapons before the war started? Yes, there were chemical weapons present when I participated in the first Gulf War. The question was never would the weapons be found, but in what amount and condition. We found one fucking grenade. How many Americans have perished or been wounded in search of that solitary grenade? Weren't we promised tons of fresh chemical weapons were to be found - pointed directly at little Buffy and Claire as they played in their backyards in Suburbs, USA?

Its interesting that you pro-war folks don't talk about the sick troops from the Khamisiyah incident during the first Gulf War, yet you gibber mindlessly on about the pursuit of one grenade that has cost thousands of lives. Perhaps ya'll should research that issue. You can then show some "Support for the Troops" by asking why Bush I, Clinton and Bush II and Cheney in his prior role as Secretary of Defense willfully ignored the growing problem of sick veterans from this incident until the roar was too loud to continue to disregard.

Why do these pro-war chickenhawks scream about "Support for the Troops" while ignoring the thousands of sick vets from Gulf War I?

Because their real "Support for the Troops" amounts to jackshit - and it always has. They care only about politics and suppressing free speech by trying to label standard First Amendment dissent as traitorous while attempting to shield their boy in Washington from any criticism.

The don't-criticize-or-I'll-call-you-a-traitor crowd - who are never anywhere to be found when sick veterans need their "Support" - disgust me to no end.

Bursting At The Seams

Dr. Ivan Eland, an anti-interventionist libertarian and Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at the Independent Institute, on Think the Unthinkable: Partition Iraq

It just gets worse and worse for the Bush administration. In the U.S. war on terror, allegations have surfaced that the policies of “torture light” and sexual humiliation of prisoners were widespread around the world and originated from high levels in the administration. Suspicious plea bargaining—normally used to give leniency to lower-level offenders to get their help in implicating higher-level people—has been used with an enlisted interrogator at Abu Ghraib prison in return for his testimony that higher-ups knew nothing of the prison abuse there. The insurgency goes on unabated and has finally begun to cut into the president’s poll numbers. The president of the Iraqi Governing Council has been assassinated. Is there a way out of the quagmire for the administration? Yes, but not the one it’s banking on.

Read the rest here.

Apologia and Excuses

Dr. Ivan Eland, an anti-interventionist libertarian and Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at the Independent Institute, on Torture in Iraq: Appalling Politicians' Reactions: Not Much Better

If the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. military personnel is revolting, almost as shocking is the reaction of American politicians to the scandal. Under political pressure, President Bush grudgingly apologized only after the apologies by his subordinates. His description of the abuses as “abhorrent“ failed to dampen the furor. In interviews with networks broadcasting in the Middle East, the president probably further inflamed the Islamic world by using the arrogant and commanding phraseology, “people in Iraq must understand…” and, “the people of the Middle East must understand…” The New York Times characterized the president’s tone in the interviews by writing, “In responding to the Muslim rage over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Mr. Bush sometimes sounded as if he was chiding angry Arabs for not appreciating the United States’ good intentions.”

Read the rest here.

Accomplishing What Mission?!

Robert Higgs, an anti-interventionist libertarian and Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, on The Crimes at Abu Ghraib Are Not the Worst:

Recent days have been hectic ones for the Supreme Rulers in Washington, D.C. President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have ceased their accustomed swaggering, put on their most somber faces, and issued one apology after another for the mistreatment of prisoners by U.S. soldiers and mercenaries at Abu Ghraib prison. Although the government had known about these disgusting, sadistic, and idiotic amusements for a long time, Rumsfeld kept a close hold on the information, the better to brush it under the official rug. (We know that the government knew, because the International Committee for the Red Cross, which made several inspections of the prisons in Iraq, confirms that long ago it “told the Americans that what was going on at Abu Ghraib is reprehensible.”) Once the photos got out, of course, more than one kind of hell broke loose, and now the government's top dogs all have their tails tucked shamefully between their legs. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham warned reporters after Rumsfeld’s Senate interrogation on May 7 that “there’s more to come” and “we’re talking about rape and murder and some very serious charges” against U.S. soldiers and civilian employees in Iraq.

Read the rest here.