A blog for all seasons; A blog for one; A blog for all. As the 11th most informative blog on the planet, I have a seared memory of throwing my Time 2006 Man of the Year Award over the railing at Time Warner Center.
Justice. Only Justice Shall Thou Pursue
Two of the Marines have been interviewed by military officials involved in a criminal investigation into the video, which surfaced online Wednesday, the official said. At less than a minute long, the video appears to show four men in uniform looking around before urinating on three dead bodies. At least one of the men chuckles as they do so.
"Have a great day, buddy," one of the men is heard saying, apparently to a dead body.
If authentic, the video portrays potential violations of both the first Geneva Convention, which calls for the dead to be "honorably interred" and says that "graves are respected," as well as the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice for allegedly bringing "discredit upon the armed forces."
Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale University, said the Marines will most likely be charged under an interpretation of the Uniform Code for Military Justice and any prison sentences would depend on instructions a military judge will give a jury of military officers who then determine the sentence.
On one of the first websites to feature the video, the member who posted it identified the Marines as belonging to the 3/2 Marine battalion out of Camp Lejeune, an assertion later confirmed by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). The battalion served in the northern Helmand Province in Afghanistan last summer. The USMC declined to identify the individual Marines in the video.
These Marines would likely see charges under the UCMJ catchall provision and the conduct unbecoming a member of the Armed Forces. Either can result in a bad-conduct/dishonorable discharge, although prison time is also a possibility.
At a minimum, expect to see these four given a bad-conduct discharge.
The Marines who were videotaped while urinating on Taliban members apparently killed in a combat situation deserve whatever punishment is meted out to them. An investigation is underway to determine who was involved, and the charges would likely include conduct unbecoming an officer as well as a general offense (catchall) under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (47 USC Sections 933 and 934). That would include regulations prohibiting photographing/videotaping deceased individuals.
Both charges can lead to dishonorable/bad conduct discharges and/or prison time.
The U.S. Marine Corps vowed a full investigation into the 39-second viral video, which infuriated Afghan President Hamid Karzai and others.
“The government of Afghanistan is deeply disturbed by a video that shows American soldiers desecrating dead bodies of three Afghans,” Karzai said in a statement Thursday.
“This act by American soldiers is simply inhumane and condemnable in the strongest possible terms,” he continued. “We expressly ask the US government to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime.”
TALIBAN: 'SHAMEFUL' VIDEO WON'T HARM POTENTIAL AFGHAN PEACE TALKS
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan also condemned the video.
“This behavior dishonors the sacrifices and core values of every service member representing the 50 nations of the coalition,” said a statement from the ISAF.
Dressed in full combat gear and holding rifles at their sides, the four men stand over the three corpses sprawled out near an overturned wheelbarrow. The warriors start urinating on the bloodied bodies, and cracking sickeningly insensitive jokes.
Bad conduct such as this can hamper the ISAF/US mission in Afghanistan by making it more difficult to gain the trust of potential allies regardless of what one thinks about the Taliban. These Marines need to be dealt with promptly and judiciously.
New video footage has been taken showing several of the damaged reactors at Fukushima from much closer than previous videos. It would seem that the footage was taken from the boom used to pour water on the damaged reactors:
High levels of radioactive materials have been found in groundwater below a stricken nuclear power station in north- eastern Japan, the plant's operator said Friday.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) confirmed that radioactivity in groundwater below the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant measured 10,000 times the legal threshold after the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said earlier in the day that part of the data had errors and ordered the operator to re-examine the figures.
The contaminated groundwater was detected around the turbine building of reactor number 1 at the plant, TEPCO said. The plant, 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami and has been leaking radiation.
Further muddying the issue was the revelation from TEPCO late Friday that the computer monitoring radiation levels at reactor number 1 was not working properly, reported the NHK broadcaster.
Experts have criticized information from the plant, saying levels reported in the water tested at the plant were too high. The revelation adds to a long chain of concerns about TEPCO's reporting on the process to restore control at Fukushima.
The Health Ministry reported Thursday that beef in Fukushima prefecture contained radioactive material above the legal limit, the first such detection in beef.
But a re-examination showed Friday that no radioactive substances were found in beef, the ministry said. No explanation was offered for the change.
There's no explanation for how the water levels have become radioactive - whether that was due to the water being poured into the reactor complex to cool down the damaged reactors and spent fuel pools, or whether leaks in the reactor core containment and spent fuel pools is contributing to the problem. The solutions will depend greatly on determining the source of the radioactive water and how to limit its further spread (although radioactive water has been detected in the ocean nearby - sourced to the reactor complex).
The US Marine Corps uses the Osprey tilt-wing aircraft to ferry Marines into battle, but they can be quite tricky to operate. The Marines were on Staten Island at Clove Lake Park near the Lake House showing off the aircraft as part of the Memorial Day commemorations when one of the Ospreys caused tree limbs to shatter and go flying injuring 10 people in the process:
The F-35 inches closer to widespread deployment with the US Armed Forces and the US Marines specifically following tests of the VSTOL version of the craft that enable vertical or short take off and landings.
The F-35 would replace the A/V-8 Harrier jets, which were originated in the United Kingdom.
However, full deployment is going to be delayed after announcements made earlier this year. Costs have also more than doubled, which makes is a ripe candidate for further cuts.
The F-35 is supposed to have three variants - an Air Force version, a Navy carrier-based version that will fly beginning later this year, and the Marine Corps VSTOL version. The Air Force version has been in testing since 2006
The damage is widespread and efforts to provide relief are underway despite the serious obstacles that start with just how exactly all the material and equipment is going to get into Haiti.
Military and aid groups began to encounter huge obstacles getting relief into the country, less than two days after the earthquake killed an estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people. U.S. military specialists reestablished communications at the Port-au-Prince airport, but a lack of fuel and a crammed tarmac prompted the Haitian government to halt incoming flights. While one airport runway was usable, air-traffic control was limited, able to handle only four aircraft at a time, logistics companies said.
The quake also damaged Haiti's main port in Port-au-Prince. The port has "collapsed and is not operational," said Maersk Line's Mary Ann Kotlarich.
The disarray at the port stands to be a major obstacle to the relief effort, as the U.S. Navy and other ships carrying supplies have nowhere to dock. Numerous maritime companies are trying to devise stop-gap solutions, but nothing is in place yet.
Some reports indicate that thousands of Haitians have been buried in a mass grave, and many thousands more remain buried in the rubble. The situation is grim, and those responding to the crisis are facing an extremely difficult situation where the national government is basically non-existent; the Haitian national police is missing in action even as the Port au Prince police are trying to round up the remains of those killed and dropping them off at the overburdened morgue. One of the priorities will be to assist local authorities in accepting, identifying, and treating the remains of those killed, which disaster mortuary teams from the US are preparing to do. Many states are engaged in their own relief efforts, including Texas.
Moreover, it's going to be up to the NGOs and various countries, particularly the US, to get basic services up and running. That means that the US Marines and US Army soldiers are going to be doing quite a bit of the heavy lifting and coordinating with other countries that are preparing to send assistance.
Among their top priorities will be to get the port infrastructure to a point where they can accept shipping with the necessary equipment and relief supplies in sufficient quantities.
Donations continue pouring in from all over, and one of the easiest ways to donate is to text messages on mobile phones to any number of charities, including the American Red Cross:
While UN trucks patrol the streets handing out emergency biscuits and water-purification tablets, many residents complain that government and international relief workers seem unevenly dispersed.
“It seems that they are hiding,” says Paul Cormier, who runs an orphanage.
Assistance is pouring in from all over the world, but the distribution of aid and movement of aid workers, doctors, and rescue workers, have been stymied so far by the complete lack of infrastructure left in the wake of Tuesday's earthquake. Cellphone networks are still down, crippling crucial communication, and many roads are blocked by rubble or people left homeless.
"It's easy to wholesale [relief materials] to the ports," former Secretary of State Colin Powell told CNN, "but how do you retail it out?"
It takes a virtual military operation to provide the kind of relief effort necessary, and that kind of manpower takes time to get on location even in the best of circumstances. Haiti's infrastructure and government capabilities were woeful to begin with, which means that aid workers will essentially be starting from scratch to provide everything necessary to those affected. For now, many Haitians are having to rely on each other to get through this most trying time.
Catholic Charities has donated $5 million towards the relief efforts. New York National Guard is prepared to fly relief efforts.
Those charities will likely direct funds to medical supplies and relief to provide basic sanitation and basic medications to prevent the spread of diseases that result from lack of sanitation, including cholera and diaharea. In fact, the health situation was so precarious before the quake, that experts expect to see a surge in cases of measles and other preventable diseases because of a low rate of vaccination:
“The health system has been eliminated, water and sanitation entirely knocked out,” Kirsch said in an interview today. “The chance of them recovering even to the low level that they were before is almost zero.”
No Basic Care
Half of the children in Haiti are unvaccinated and just 40 percent of the population had access to basic health care before the crisis, according to the Geneva-based WHO.
UPDATE:
The USS Carl Vinson is now on station off the coast of Haiti. It will provide humanitarian relief by shipping supplies by helicopter, and it will also help provide air traffic control functions. The USS Bataan amphibious assault carrier and her task force (USS Carter Hall and USS Fort McHenry) are on the way, and can provide helicopter support as well as utilize Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCAC) to ferry in heavy equipment to clear debris. Also, the USS Gunston Hall was diverted after the 7.0 magnitude quake from a planned mission to the African coast. The Bataan carries 3,200 Marines and will be critical to providing security and stability to relief efforts.
UPDATE: Here's an ongoing and developing list of nations providing assistance. There remains a paucity of countries from the Middle East that are providing aid. Besides Israel, only Iran, the UAE, and Turkey are providing any kind of assistance as of today. Lebanon promises that it would provide aid and called on its expat community to donate.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm Mike Mullen, said a hospital ship and more helicopters would be sent in the coming days, and 9-10,000 troops would be in or off Haiti by Monday.
UPDATE:
The US Air Force has reopened the airport, bringing in the necessary equipment to get relief flights going, but there was some frustration that they weren't called upon sooner to prevent a logjam forcing the airport's closure at a critical juncture.
By daybreak, a 115-person Air Force team, which flew in five C-17 cargo planes of communications and air-traffic management equipment overnight, had undone most of the logjam. A hodgepodge group of fewer than a dozen planes were still lined up along the airport's concourse.
A steady stream of flights arrived and departed without difficulty even during the pre-dawn hours, the first time the airport was able to accept nighttime flights since the quake.
Despite the progress, members of the Air Force team – the 621st Contingency Response Wing, one of two Air Force units specifically designed to open distressed airstrips – expressed frustration that they had not been sent earlier to manage the flow of aid into the airport, saying Thursday's flight freeze may have been avoided.
"We would have liked to have been there a little bit sooner to unclog the airfield," said Col. Brian O'Connor, the wing's commander. "It makes me cringe, it's so disorderly."
The USS Carl Vinson is diverting to Haiti to render assistance; it was originally scheduled to relocate to San Diego from its homeport in Norfolk, but that relocation cruise has turned into a humanitarian relief effort. The ship can desalinate 400,000 gallons of water a day, which will be critical given the massive devastation to infrastructure throughout Port au Prince. It's flight deck will provide a launching point for helicopters to go into areas that can't be reached by land vehicles.
Also coming to Haiti's aid is a task force including a Marine Amphibious Unit from Camp Lejeune, which will also have helicopter capabilities.
Most importantly, the USNS Comfort will be arriving in Haiti within the next few days to deliver medical assistance and augment the devastated medical care system.
The Navy Twitter feed is providing constant updates as to what the Navy and other military units are doing to provide assistance. Already on the scene are several US Coast Guard ships, which are providing air traffic control and other essential services to prepare the port to accept larger ships and begin the process of assisting the people of Haiti.
The US Southern Command is in charge of the US military response to the disaster.
The streets of Port au Prince are lined with the dead. It's not for the faint of heart. (graphic video warning)
Google has before/after photos of Port au Prince so you can see just how badly the region has suffered from the quake. This video also shows a helicopter overflight of the devastation.
It's a race against time to rescue those still trapped in the ruins.
Expat communities of Haitians are devastated; Brooklyn has one of the largest Haitian communities outside the country, and people there are grasping at any shred of hope and word about loved ones and their former homes.
They don't get much press coverage in the US media, but Mexico has a very fast disaster response, honed by plenty of experience with hurricanes and earthquakes. Three Mexican Army airplanes carrying a team of disaster specialists has already landed in Port au Prince with 20 tons of supplies. The Mexican hospital ship El Huasteco left port today with more supplies and medical personnel. Another ship, the ARM Papaloapan, is expected to arrive in Haiti by the end of this week.
The personnel shipped out so far consist of about a hundred medical personnel, rescue specialists, engineers and technical personnel,and four rescue dogs and their handlers. These are probably from the Guadalajara Fire Department, the Mexican Red Cross, and Jalisco's Civil Defense Department. Other trained earthquake rescue teams are getting ready to go.
El Huasteco and 77 tons of desperately needed relief supplies was turned back from Haiti last May because of the Haitian government's fear about swine flu. I think they'll get a more enthusiastic reception this week.
Mexico's Recycled Relief Ship Rides Again
In 1992, the US Navy decommissioned the LSTUSS Newport. She was taken out of mothballs and refurbished for the Mexican Navy a few years later. Rechristened the ARM Papaloapan (P-411) in mid-2002, she carried relief supplies from Mexico to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. She is currently loading supplies and emergency personnel for the Haitian earthquake relief work.
An Air China flight landed in Port-au-Prince before daybreak, ferrying a Chinese search-and-rescue team, medical personnel and tons of food and medicine, the Associated Press reported.
Three French planes brought in supplies and a mobile hospital, the news agency reported, and British relief workers arrived next door in the Dominican Republic, an important relay point for the wave of assistance that the world pledged in the wake of Tuesday's magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
The party sent to set up the hospital will include 40 doctors and 24 nurses, and is scheduled to leave Thursday evening. The hospital, capable of treating 500 patients, will include an intensive care unit, two operating rooms, a pharmacy, and an X-ray lab.
Search and rescue agents from the Homefront Command will also be included in the party.
Levy said a Home front Command delegation was currently making its way from the Dominican Republic to the quake-struck country.
UPDATE: GM Foundation donating $100k to Haiti relief efforts via the ARC. Others donating include Wells Fargo, Publix, Coca Cola ($1 million), TD Bank, Go Daddy, Kellogg, and UPS, Bank of America, and Kraft.
UPDATE:
NYC Mayor Bloomberg talks about the crisis and relief efforts along with how best to render assistance. He warns of scammers trying to take advantage of the situation and to donate to reputable charities. He suggests that monetary donations are the best way to provide aid as the various relief organizations can then obtain the needed items in a more efficient manner:
UPDATE: CBS lists the national responses of various nations:
• The United Nations is releasing $10 million from its emergency funds.
• The United States is sending ships, helicopters, transport planes and a 2,000-member Marine unit.
• Canada is sending an immediate $5 million Canadian (US$4.8 million) to the Haitian government and has put transport planes, helicopters, a hospital ship and a disaster response team on standby.
• The Irish telecommunications company Digicel said it would donate $5 million to aid agencies and help repair the damaged phone network.
• The European Commission has approved euro3 million ($4.37 million), with more funds likely.
• Spain has pledged euro3 million ($4.37 million), and sent three planes with rescue teams and 100 tons of emergency relief equipment.
• The Netherlands has donated euro2 million ($2.91 million) and will send a 60-person search-and-rescue team.
• Germany gave euro1.5 million ($2.17 million) and sent an immediate response team. Another team with 20 rescue dogs is on standby.
• Denmark has donated 10 million kroner ($1.9 million).
• Italy is pledging euro1 million ($1.46 million).
• China will donate $1 million, according to Xinhua News Agency.
• Sweden has offered 6 million kronor ($850,000), along with tents, water purification equipment and medical aid.
• Venezuela has sent doctors, firefighters and rescue workers.
• Mexico will send doctors, search-and-rescue dogs and infrastructure damage experts.
• France is sending two planes with doctors, food and medical equipment.
• Britain has sent 64 firefighters with search-and-rescue dogs and 10 tons of equipment.
• Iceland is sending 37 search-and-rescue specialists.
• Taiwan is flying in 23 rescue personnel and 2 tons of aid and equipment.
• Israel is sending an elite army rescue unit, including engineers, rescue workers, doctors and medics.
• Cuba already had field hospitals on the ground when the quake struck.
Curiously, there are no Arab nations on the list of those providing monetary assistance or who have announced that they are sending rescue teams to the region. President Obama has increased the amount of relief aid to $100 million.
I'm also announcing an immediate investment of $100 million to support our relief efforts. This will mean more of the life-saving equipment, food, water and medicine that will be needed. This investment will grow over the coming year as we embark on the long-term recovery from this unimaginable tragedy.
The United States of America will also forge the partnerships that this undertaking demands. We will partner with the Haitian people. And that includes the government of Haiti, which needs our support as they recover from the devastation of this earthquake. It also includes the many Haitian Americans who are determined to help their friends and family. And I've asked Vice President Biden to meet in South Florida this weekend with members of the Haitian American community, and with responders who are mobilizing to help the Haitian people.
We will partner with the United Nations and its dedicated personnel and peacekeepers, especially those from Brazil, who are already on the ground due to their outstanding peacekeeping efforts there. And I want to say that our hearts go out to the United Nations, which has experienced one of the greatest losses in its history. We have no doubt that we can carry on the work that was done by so many of the U.N. effort that have been lost, and we see that their legacy is Haiti's hope for the future.
We will partner with other nations and organizations. And that's why I've been reaching out to leaders from across the Americas and beyond who are sending resources to support this effort. And we will join with the strong network of non-governmental organizations across the country who understand the daily struggles of the Haitian people.
UPDATE: MSNBC has an interactive map showing damage to certain key facilities. It shows that there's a toppled crane and other damage to port facilities that will make it difficult to get relief supplies in by sea. Expect the US Navy to have its engineering contingent work to get the port reopened as quickly as possible to enable larger supply convoys to enter the port. Air flights are also being suspended because of limited jet fuel on hand and the tarmac is full at the capital's airport. While the airport control tower was destroyed, the runway is intact, enabling some flights to get in.
Pirates continue holding Capt. Richard Phillips on board that drifting lifeboat, and while that is a dangerous enough situation, the complicating factor is that there are more than 200 other crew members who are being held by pirates up and down the Somali coast from the numerous other hijackers in the past few months.
There is some concern that a rescue operation against the pirates holding Phillips might endanger the others. It could conceivably increase the ransoms demanded for the others.
Then again, no such action was discerned following the French efforts to release five hostages in a military operation that resulted in four being rescued and a fifth person killed along with two of the pirates. The French engaged in military ops to secure the release of their citizens shows that military ops can work and the repercussions may not be as bad as feared.
Of course, there's a solution for that too, and that involves going and rescuing all of the people being held hostage by the pirates on shore. It's the kind of action that would put the piracy to an end (big on risk, but huge on reward), and it's not something one would expect from Obama, who's been busy doing everything imaginable to emasculate the US and the US national security posture in the name of being more "friendly" to our enemies.
Such an operation could involve multiple navies and US Marines and Special Forces to infiltrate and identify all the locations where the crews are being held. LCACs and helicopters could be used to ferry in both the Marines and to evacuate the crews. Such equipment is available on the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, which is in the vicinity.
Negotiations over the American captain taken hostage by Somali pirates broke down on Saturday, according to Somali officials, after American officials insisted that the pirates be arrested and a group of elders representing the pirates refused.
Somali officials said the American captain, Richard Phillips, and the four heavily armed pirates holding him hostage remained in a covered lifeboat floating in the Indian Ocean about 30 miles off Gara’ad, a notorious pirate den in northeastern Somalia.
The negotiations broke down hours after the pirates fired on a small United States Navy vessel that had tried to approach the lifeboat not long after sunrise Saturday in the Indian Ocean.
It was the first such approach since the standoff began on Wednesday, and the vessel returned to a nearby Navy destroyer, the Bainbridge, after the pirates fired warning shots in the air, according to an American military official.
The American boat did not return fire and “did not want to escalate the situation,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
There's a further reason that the US Navy didn't return fire, and it has more to do with identifying targets and hoping to avoid hitting Capt. Phillips, than with escalating the situation further.
This further indicates the problems with trying to address the situation as a law enforcement matter and not a military one.
It also highlights the fact that the crews themselves have to take matters into their own hands - the crew of the Maersk Alabama freed themselves. They weren't going to wait for someone to come and help them. It was quick thinking and swift action that resulted in their freedom.
Some of the crew managed to hide in a secure part of the Alabama as the pirates stormed the ship, the sailor said.
As the men described the clash, a crew member pointed to his shipmate and said, "This guy is a hero, he and the chief engineer they took down the pirate... he led him down there to the engine room and then they jumped him."
The fellow shipmate then added that he stabbed the pirate in the man and tied him up.
Another crew member shouted, "Captain Phillips is a hero."
UPDATE: There are those who think that the rest of the world is to blame for the pirates taking up their lucrative endeavors as a result of various entities encroaching on their fishing grounds and dumping in their waters.
An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a swift firefight that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, U.S. officials said.
Capt. Richard Phillips' crew, who said they escaped after he offered himself to the pirates as a hostage, erupted in cheers abroad their ship docked in Mombasa, Kenya, waving an American flag and firing a flare in celebration.
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said Phillips was resting comfortably on a U.S. warship after receiving a medical exam.
The Navy said Phillips was freed at 7:19 p.m. local time. He was taken aboard the Norfolk, Virginia-based USS Bainbridge and then flown to the San Diego-based USS Boxer for the medial exam, 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said.
Christensen said Phillips was now "resting comfortably." The USS Boxer was in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia, Christensen said.
The U.S. did not say if Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was receiving medical care because he had been injured or if he was being treated for exposure after his ordeal.
U.S. officials said a pirate who had been involved in negotiations to free Phillips but who was not on the lifeboat during the rescue was in military custody. FBI spokesman John Miller said that would change as the situation became "more of a criminal issue than a military issue."
It's indeed a Happy Easter for the Phillips family. And for the second time, it was because Capt. Phillips attempted to escape that he was able to be freed by the US forces. He again jumped out of the lifeboat, and this time US forces were ready to take out the pirates. Three were killed, and the fourth was taken into custody.
UPDATE: Even with the rescue, you've got reports trying to make the pirates out to be something that they're not. It's the attempt to claim and transform these modern day pirates into emerging businessmen with unique economic opportunities for advancement:
We are tired of your calls. We have no time for journalists," is a polite translation of some of the last quotes our team managed to extract from the pirates.
"If you bother us again, we will order someone in Mogadishu to meet you," a gang member added before the line went dead.
Often, though, the pirates are friendly and helpful, though they detest use of the p-word. "We never kill people. We are Muslims. We are marines, coastguards -- not pirates," one said.
Hostages say the pirates are normally as friendly as they can be under the circumstances. While they threaten to shoot or beat them if they do not cooperate, they also roast goat for their captives and pass phones around for calls home.
If they're Muslim, they have a funny way of showing it given that they're not showing the hospitality they claim to represent.
A senior administration official said the president's order authorized force for a group of military assets that arrived at the scene late last week. When more resources arrived, Obama added them to a roster of military personnel allowed to engage militarily with the Somali pirates.
Obama was told Sunday of the rescue while he was in the White House residence, administration officials said. He phoned Phillips and Phillips' family, an official told FOX News.
"I am very pleased that Capt. Phillips has been rescued and is safely on board the USS Boxer," the president said in a statement. "His safety has been our principal concern, and I know this is a welcome relief to his family and his crew."
Obama also praised the U.S. military and the other departments and agencies for their efforts.
"We remain resolved to halt the rise of piracy in this region," he said. "To achieve that goal, we must continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks, be prepared to interdict acts of piracy and ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes."
If the Administration is resolved to halt the piracy in the region, they better be looking at dealing with the pirates onshore, and not just deterring them once they're at sea.
Charles Johnson reminds me that today is Medal of Honor day, honoring those recipients who received the nation's highest military decoration. Recipients often receive the honor posthumously as they have given their lives in order to save comrades from certain death or overwhelming odds.
Ross McGinnis, Private First Class, U.S. Army, War In Iraq Michael A. Monsoor, Master-at-Arms, U.S. Navy, War In Iraq Michael P. Murphy, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, War In Afghanistan Jason L. Dunham, Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, War In Iraq Paul R. Smith, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, War In Iraq
We are in your debt and in awe of your sacrifices and courage in the face of the enemy.
The Empire State Building regularly changes its lighting patterns for various holidays and events, from religious observances to when sports teams win big games.
It makes absolutely no sense at all. There is no other lighting event scheduled on that day. The following day on the 11th, the building will have the red white and blue for Veterans Day and commemorating the reopening of the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum (which actually reopens to the public today after a multimillion dollar rehabilitation of the Fighting I and its pier).
The Marine Expeditionary Unit assigned to the USS Bataan is in port this year to celebrate the reopening of the Intrepid, and some of those stationed on the ship may soon end up in Afghanistan or Iraq or some other far flung place around the world defending our liberties and strategic interests.
Considering that the nation owes its continued existence and safety to the men and women of the Corps, it's disrespectful and disgraceful that the building management couldn't see fit to honor these fine folks.
Twenty five years ago today, Hizbullah, the Islamic terrorist group, conducted two suicide bombings within a matter of minutes of each other. As the dust settled, the Marine Barracks were decimated and 241 US Marines, soldiers, and sailors were dead. This is a partial list of names of those Marines, soldiers, and sailors killed, who are interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
58 French soldiers were also killed.
Hizbullah has never been held accountable for their heinous actions against the US and French peacekeepers who were in Lebanon to try and restore peace to a country wracked by civil war, fighting between Israel and the PLO, and Syrian machinations. Iran, as Hizbullah's backers, have never been held accountable for those actions. The US forces were there to attempt to keep the peace, and the ignominious withdrawal was a low point of the Reagan Administration, as the Marines never did get to impose their firepower on the terrorists who killed so many of their brothers-in-arms.
Hizbullah had more US blood on its hands than any other Islamic terror group until al Qaeda carried out the heinous attacks on September 11, 2001. Hizbullah still poses a mortal threat to US forces, especially as it acts as a proxy for Iran and that state backing is a serious threat to US interests in the Middle East and beyond.
Never forget.
We are still living with the repercussions of that terrorist attack. The attack, and the US failure to respond forcefully, inspired al Qaeda to believe that the US power was waning.
The reprehensible Democrat Rep. John Murtha, who claimed that the Haditha Marines murdered Iraqis in cold blood, must be held accountable for his outrageous statements.
Expect to hear crickets from Murtha and his press flacks when yet another lawsuit is filed against him for slander by one of those Marines smeared by the Member of Congress.
A local Marine cleared in the deaths of civilians in Iraq says Congressman John Murtha made public comments that were unproven, untrue and unfair.
Now, Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt is planning to file suit in federal court against Murtha on Thursday morning.
The suit accuses the congressman of slander and violating the Marine's right to a fair trial and due process.
That follows a lawsuit filed by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich against Murtha for defamation. Murtha abused his position by making inflammatory statements that could prejudice the public and was meant as a way to pressure the outcome of trials against the Marines.
Despite a judge dismissing the charges without prejudice, the US Marine Corps is looking to reinstate the charges against Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani in relation to their claim of dereliction of duty.
The appeal was filed, but cited no basis for its appeal. It is almost as though they were going through the motions as the Marine Corps had three days in which to file the appeal.
Chessani, 44, is charged with dereliction of duty and failure to obey a direct order for not launching a war-crimes investigation into the killings.
Folsom ruled that Mattis erred by allowing Col. John Ewers, a Marine lawyer, to attend meetings where the Haditha prosecutions were discussed. Ewers was one of the lead investigators early in the case and most likely would be a key witness if Chessani goes to court-martial.
In its filing with the appeals court, the prosecution did not cite any basis for its appeal. Folsom had given prosecutors three days to appeal his ruling. He also permitted the Marine Corps to refile the charges although he ruled that the refiling would have to be done by a new convening authority not connected to the Camp Pendleton-based Marine Forces Central Command.
Considering that the charges against six of the seven other people indicted in the Haditha incident were exonerated or had the charges dropped, this is likely the only way that the prosecution could hedge its bets to get a single conviction, if any are to be had.
Someone get Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) on the line because his claims that the Haditha Marines engaged in cold blooded murder appears to be nothing more than a libel and bluster meant to intimidate and cow the Marines into taking disciplinary actions for a regrettable incident where civilians lost their lives in the middle of a warzone.
Six Marines have already been cleared. Two remain in the legal spotlight, SSgt. Frank Wuterich and Lt. Col. Jeffery Chessani and Chessani's case is being moved up today for a one hour hearing later today:
Officials with the law center today said Col. Steven Folson, the military judge assigned to the case, “informed counsel that the hearing in the Chessani case, originally scheduled for three days, June 16-18, has been changed to only one hour on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, at 9 a.m. PST.
“Col. Folsom indicated that the only business he will address is his ruling on the defense motion to dismiss Lt. Col. Jeffery Chessani’s case because of unlawful command influence,” the law center said.
Chessani was charged with dereliction of duty in failing to report the incident, which is absurd considering that he not only reported the incident up the chain of command, but provided a powerpoint presentation for the report highlighting the issues involved.
It is quite likely that Chessani's case will be dismissed with prejudice today, which sets the stage for Wuterich's case to be dismissed thereafter. So, after all of the bluster and anti-war and anti-Marine rhetoric, not a single charge stuck. Color me surprised at this - the investigation turned up no wrongdoing. The deaths of the civilians is certainly regrettable, but doesn't rise to the level of criminal homicide given the circumstances of the incident as it unfolded.
I'm awaiting Murtha's heaping serving of crow, but I sincerely doubt that he'll ever be held accountable for his statements. (HT: Let Freedom Ring)
UPDATE: The charges have been dropped without prejudice, but the Marine Forces Central Command is barred from future involvement. For intents and purposes, Chessani was cleared of wrongdoing.
UPDATE: When will we get Sen. Barack Obama's apology for trusting in Murtha's mad rush to judgment to convict and sentence the Marines involved before an investigation was even complete?
A military jury acquitted a Marine intelligence officer Wednesday of charges that he tried to help cover up the killings of 24 Iraqis.
Cheers erupted as the seven-officer panel cleared 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, who was the first of three Marines to be tried in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving Iraqi deaths linked to the war. The verdict came just five hours after deliberations began.
The judge, Maj. Brian E. Kasprzyk, admonished the noisy courtroom, saying: "There will be no more of that."
Grayson, who has always maintained he did nothing wrong, was not at the scene of the killings of men, women and children on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha. He was accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from a digital camera and laptop computer.
That's six of the eight Marines charged in the incident in Haditha, Iraq, declared not guilty or had their charges dismissed.
Two Marines are still awaiting trial. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who faces charges of voluntary manslaughter, and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, of Rangely, Colo., charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order, are still awaiting trial.
This incident was a rallying cry by the anti-war types, many of whom attempted to portray the Marines as mindless killers. Murtha threw the presumption of innocence and due process out the window when he made his statements. He was trying to get the US to cut and run from Iraq, and the Haditha incident played into that calculus. And Obama, who claims to have gone to law school and edited the law review, should have known better as well than to follow along with Murtha's nonsense and clear violation of constitutional protections for our Marines.
We once again take time out of our busy schedules to remember those who fought in defense of the nation and those who made the supreme sacrifice. Words cannot fully explain what these men and women have left behind - both in terms of the loss to their family and friends, and what a grateful nation has gained from defending the freedoms that many still take for granted despite being born from the blood, sweat, and tears of these men and women.
Taken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 3/2005.
I've posted a number of clips showing some of our nation's finest soldiers, sailors, and Marines doing precision maneuvers with either their rifles or in their aircraft.
The U.S. military is stepping up preparations for a humanitarian mission to Myanmar.
Though the country's military junta has not accepted the offer of help, the U.S. Air Force is moving more airplanes to a staging area in neighboring Thailand.
And a U.S. defense official says the Navy has started sending helicopters to be closer to Myanmar as well, should approval come.
The Navy and Marine Corps happen to have ships and thousands of service members in the area this week for a multinational exercise on humanitarian missions.
An official said that because it would take the ships several days to get there, some of their helicopters are being sent ahead. When the ships are finished off loading their helicopters, they will get under way later Thursday.
The junta has refused to grant permission for US forces to provide humanitarian aid. Every day that the junta continues to drag its feet means more Burmese people die. It's really that simple. The US military has three ships in the region that were engaging in humanitarian relief exercises that could be deployed to provide immediate assistance and several heavy airlift planes positioned in Thailand to provide additional assistance and airlift of materials from around the region.
The junta has stonewalled and backtracked on outside assistance days after saying that they needed help. That's what you get when you have a corrupt and incompetent government operating during a natural disaster.
UPDATE: One has to wonder what the junta is really afraid of. Are they afraid that they're going to lose power because foreign countries, including the US will provide aid and that they aren't going to be the ones distributing it to their cronies or withholding it from perceived opponents? Or, is it because the world will know about the corpses floating in rivers and streams because there's simply no place to bury them? Or maybe it's the rotting stench of death that overwhelms much of the coast?
The junta's clearly trying to hold onto power, and the cyclone has dealt them a blow that the opposition groups couldn't when they were protesting several months back. Fear is governing what the junta is doing, and that means that the Burmese people will continue suffering.
UPDATE: 500,000 dead? That's what the Sun is reporting.
THE death toll in cyclone-ravaged Burma could hit 500,000 – more than TWICE the total killed by the Boxing Day Tsunami.
Last night’s warning came as it emerged that 17 Britons, including ex-pats and backpackers, were still missing.
Sources said 200,000 people were already dead or dying.
But the figure could rise to HALF A MILLION through disease and hunger if the nation’s hardline army rulers continue to block aid for the devastated lowlands of the Irrawaddy Delta.
I'm not sure how much to believe that figure, but it is plausible, and could explain why the junta isn't quite willing to let in foreign countries to see the devastation. It would expose the utter failure of the regime.
Rangoon is a complete wreck. The UN says that 1.5 million Burmese were affected by the storm, which makes the half a million dead seem out of proportion, but then again, villages were simply wiped away by storm surge, so anything is possible. The junta hasn't updated its figures today, but holds to a figure of 22,980 dead with 42,119 missing as of Tuesday.
Proof that Iraq remains a dangerous place and that the US must remain vigilent in its efforts to restore law and order and remain there until the job is done.
BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber killed five American soldiers on a foot patrol Monday after detonating his explosives vest in central Baghdad, the U.S. military said, the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Iraq in more than a month.
Four of the soldiers died at the scene and the fifth died later from wounds, the military said in a statement. The blast also wounded three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter, the military said.
Military spokesman Maj. Mark Cheadle said that "it was reported to us as a suicide bomber."
An Iraqi police officer at the scene, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said two civilians also were killed and another eight wounded in the attack.
It was the deadliest attack since Jan. 28, when five U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul.
Monday's deaths brought the number to 3,979 members of the U.S. military who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Meanwhile, a female suicide bomber on Monday killed the head of a local group of Sunni fighters northeast of Baghdad who had turned against al-Qaida insurgents, the leader's brother and a provincial police official said.
Wait for the Democratic candidates (especially Obama) to call for the immediate withdrawal of the troops, a knee jerk reaction, that is exactly the wrong reaction. Terrorists have to know that there are repercussions for attacking US Soldiers, US Citizens and US interests. The repercussion cannot be withdrawal and acquiescence. The US must remain strong and remain tough. Terrorist activities must be put down swiftly and strongly. There can be no waiver, no peace meetings, no concessions.
Today is the 232nd anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps.
Semper Fidelis.
Always Faithful.
Since that day in 1778, Marines have gone wherever a grateful nation has asked them, and they've served with honor and dignity. The Marine Corps Hymn speaks of the missions and bravery:
From the Halls of Montezuma, To the Shores of Tripoli; We fight our country's battles In the air, on land, and sea; First to fight for right and freedom And to keep our honor clean; We are proud to claim the title Of UNITED STATES MARINES.
Our flag's unfurled to every breeze, From dawn to setting sun; We have fought in every clime and place Where we could take a gun; In the snow of far off northern lands And in sunny tropic scenes; You will find us always on the job -- The UNITED STATES MARINES.
Here's health to you and to our Corps Which we are proud to serve; In many a strife we've fought for life And never lost our nerve; If the Army and the Navy Ever look on Heaven's scenes; They will find the streets are guarded By UNITED STATES MARINES.
That's the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Team in action.
Iwo Jima Memorial at night. Taken March 2005.
Forever remembering the sacrifices made by the Marines in far flung places around the world.
Also, I want to take this opportunity to once again remind my readers of Project Valour IT's fundraising efforts. I use this space to help raise funds for the Marine Corps team, they've had our backs. Now, it's time to have theirs. Project Valour IT, in conjunction with the Defense Department, provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military medical centers.
The Marine Corps, the smallest of the armed services branches, and continues to be in second place in raising funds for this worthy cause. Second place is not enough. Marines don't take second place to anyone. It's time to change this.
I challenge the Blog World. Right, Center, Left. Show that you *do* support the troops - because this isn't about the war, this doesn't support the Administration, and I don't care if you want to use this as a way to *flog* the administration. This is about nothing more than us caring for our combat wounded, regardless of what you think about the war. Punish the politicians at the ballot box - but support the troops in the hospitals.
This particular effort is a friendly competition between the various branches of the US Armed Forces. While the US Marines is the smallest of the four branches, they are at the tip of the spear. Holly Aho is running the Marine campaign, and anyone who donates through my blog will be able to contribute to the Marine campaign effort. This is the same team that I've sponsored (and donated money to) each year since the project started, so get at it!
Goal: The goal of the Project Valour-IT 2007 fundraiser is to raise $240,000 total ($60,000 per team), which will go to purchase new laptops with voice activated software for our wounded soldiers with hand and/or arm injuries.
As of today, the Marine Corps team has raised over $12,000.
UPDATE: Based on a bum link (to the US Defense Department release from 2004, which was the first to come up in a Google search) - I got the birthday wrong. It's been fixed above.
