Scratch That Hero

An unlikely story caught my eye in the little magazine shoved into the comics in Sunday’s newspaper.  As terrible as this reads, it’s from Sunday’s PARADE magazine:

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau has begun removal proceedings against him, and Sgt. Benkabbou faces deportation if he returns to American soil. At press time, he remains on combat duty in Afghanistan.

The article is talking about SGT Hicham Benkabbou, a paratrooper serving in Afghanistan with the Red Devils.  Apparently he’s got some shady marriage in his background – not shady enough to keep him from serving, probably observing all kinds of classified SECRET material, and possibly sacrificing his life for this country.  He’s impressed his commanders enough that they’re willing to give him a chance, as reported by the Guardian:

Several commanding officers have offered support to Benkabbou. Lieutenant Colonel Peterman said: “It is not an understatement to say that Sgt Benkabbou has been instrumental in sustaining the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment during this combat deployment to Afghanistan. He is a leader, a problem solver, and possesses the physical gifts of a US paratrooper.”

But once he’s done with the tour – after the Army’s finished with  – then ICE will pick him up and try him.  The Association of Patriotic Arab Americans in the Military has picked up his case but beyond the footshot of throwing away the career of a skilled paratrooper, what sort of loss is that to the info war and how much propaganda does that put back into the enemy’s quiver.  Either the guy is a suspected plant and should be pulled out now or he’s a qualified Soldier and should be allowed to retain the citizenship he is so richly earning.

The Gratitude Campaign

I’ll admit that I got more than a little tired of people with their yellow ribbons on the SUV supposedly ‘supporting the troops’ when they really hadn’t done much else besides slapping the made-in-china-magnet on.  I hope without seeming too sappy, here’s a small, personal gesture that even the most jaded can appreciate.    Give it a look.

God Just Didn’t Pay Off!

Although I’ve little sympathy for those that turn over their living to these charlatans, especially in hope of getting something back, it is good to see Congress trying to take a look at them. Whether they’ll have any more effect on this than the DoJ remains to be seen.

Believer bitter over ‘prosperity’ preachings – CNN.com
“More and more people are desperate and grasping at straws and want something that will alleviate their pain or financial crisis,” said Michael Palmer, dean of the divinity school at Regent University, founded by Pat Robertson. “It’s a growing problem.”

The modern-day prosperity movement can largely be traced back to evangelist Oral Roberts’ teachings. Roberts’ disciples have spread his theology and vocabulary (Roberts and other evangelists, such as Meyer, call their donors “partners.”) And several popular prosperity preachers, including some now under investigation, have served on the Oral Roberts University board.

At least it will put the names out there for a few days, associated with the ripoffs they did.

I Guess the Prince of Peace Inspired Them

Pretty bad when the Palestinians are restoring order

Priests brawl at Jesus’ birthplace – CNN.com
But the clean-up turned ugly after some of the Orthodox faithful stepped inside the Armenian church’s section, touching off a scuffle between about 50 Greek Orthodox and 30 Armenians.

Palestinian police, armed with batons and shields, quickly formed a human cordon to separate the two sides so the cleaning could continue, then ordered an Associated Press photographer out of the church.

Race to the Bottom

I remember that, in the early days of the insurgency in Iraq when the insurgents seemed to be gaining in effectiveness, someone quipped that “all the stupid ones are dead now.”  Some days it seems the opposite is happening in parts of our government, as good men drop out for many different reasons, leaving the least desirable, incompetent, or corrupt to continue on.  This definitely seems to be happening in our JAG / Justice structures.  James Comey resigned to leave Alberto Gonzales in the AG seat.  A host of US Attorneys and JAGs have resigned or been pushed out.  Whistleblowers and IGs are attacked for insisting on accountability while Medals of Freedom are hung from the necks of liars and sycophants.  The US Senate has approved or temporarily appointed a new Attorney General and assistant that embrace torture.

The next big step in this race to the bottom is the resignation of Lieutenant Commander Andrew Williams from the Navy’s JAG corps.  He did so in reaction to BG Thomas Hartmann’s willingness to expose American servicemen to torture by other countries. As detailed by Military .com:

Graham asked Hartmann how the uniformed legal community should respond if the Iranian government used waterboarding to torture a U.S. solider into disclosing when the next U.S. military operation would occur.

Hartmann responded: “I am not prepared to answer that question.”

For Williams, a former naval Lieutenant Commander and member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG), this answer went against “every training I had as an attorney” and as a member of the military.

Others that have encountered Hartmann have resigned, such as COL Davis, the former lead prosecutor at Guantanamo, who quit because of undue command influence.  Assistant Attorney General  Daniel Levin was forced out when he reported that waterboarding was torture.

The Senate Judiciary hearing gave Mark Filip a pass as he sat in front of his teenage sons and refused to tell the truth about torture.  With their temporary appointment of him, they become complicit.  The mess this country’s been dragged into over torture is a travesty of conscience but if all the good guys go – only the bad ones remain.

A Colony With a Conscience – New York Times

Here’s a nice little piece of history that I was unaware of but truly appreciate.  (permalink)

A Colony With a Conscience – New York Times
The Flushing Remonstrance was remarkable for four reasons.

First, it articulated a fundamental right that is as basic to American freedom as any we hold dear.

Second, the authors backed up their words with actions — they did not whisper their opposition among themselves or protest in silence. Rather, they signed the document and sent it to the most powerful official in the colony, a man not known for toleration or for an easygoing or gracious manner.

Galloway on Point

Joe Galloway hits another one:

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 12/13/2007 | Commentary: The disgraceful treatment of our veterans

Driven By Boredom 3.0

I don’t know exactly who he is or how he gets by, but the proprietor of Driven By Boredom 3.0 can talk lots of people out of their clothes and has the funniest gd Family Circles I’ve seen!

China taps into U.S. spy operations

I read about this somewhere else, so even though I don’t like clipping the Moonie Times, I think it is instructional about the problems we’ll have if we don’t get serious about cyber-security and cyber-warfare to come:

China taps into U.S. spy operations - - The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper
According to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, China’s Ministry of State Security, the main civilian spy service, carried out the operations by setting up a Chinese translation service in Hawaii that represented itself as a U.S.-origin company.

The ruse led to classified contracts with the Navy and NSA to translate some of the hundreds of thousands of intercepted communications gathered by NSA’s network of listening posts, aircraft and ships.

Hunker Down – It’s Christmas!

On the fifth Christmas that American Soldiers have spent in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, reports come in with different slants and different assessments of the situation and the reasons for it.  This year, many strike me as somber, remarking on Soldiers spending two and three Christmases away from family or the once exuberant Christian community in Iraq now virtually extinct and mostly hidden.  There is certainly some joy in Central Texas as more than one plane load of troops returning offset those departing.  And we shouldn’t forget that American troops are separated from their families in more places than just the middle east.  There are Sailors at sea and in Iceland, Marines every damn place, Soldiers and Airmen in Korea, Europe, on the borders, and everywhere in between.  Those in Iraq do have a special challenge, even if they get a break on the actual day:  From the Austin American Statesman:

At Patrol Base Warrior Keep in southwestern Baghdad, all wish they were home. But at least there won’t be any patrols outside the base for the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division, 1st Battalion, 187th Regiment: Lt. Col. RJ Lillibridge of Clarksville, Tenn., didn’t want to risk having to deliver bad news to families on the holiday.

So, instead of patrolling, the soldiers are staying on base, playing video game tournaments, waiting in lines for phones and computers to contact home and sleeping in past breakfast or even lunch.

Iraqi Christians and U.S. soldiers will celebrate Christmas in similar ways: with specially prepared meals, small church services and thoughts of family and friends far away. In this war-torn country, neither the Iraqis nor the American soldiers are celebrating the way they really want to.

After five Christmases and millions of troop rotations, and the “success of the surge”, isn’t it odd that the best plan commanders could come up with to insure no bad news today was to have their troops hide in their bases?  Something about that just doesn’t smell like success to me.

Happy Christmas, Merry Holidays, back to work tomorrow everyone – saddle up!