General John Kerry

Here's a news flash: President Obama just announced he won't be rushed into making a decision on whether to send additional troops to Afghanistan. That's a relief since it's only been longer then a month since his commander requested help.
President, Take your time, maybe address the UN again or start campaigning for the 2020 Olympics. Those combat troops in Afghanistan can wait. Heck, take yourself a vacation and relax maybe a vacation will help you think. There isn't a rush.
General John Kerry also just announced that President Obama's Commanding General in Afghanistan is moving too far and too fast in regards to his plea for additional troops. In the Same breath Kerry warned that the United States cannot risk a shift in strategy that would narrowly focus on hunting terrorists.
Gee, seems to me if General McChrystal doesn't get the troops he requested then the mission will have to shift to a more narrow focus. I mean at this point he's not getting the troops he requested to regain the initiative. Gen. McChystal is advising his President he doesn't have enough troops but Kerry doesn't want the mission in Afghanistan to downsize. Do the math, Kerry.
Gen. McChystal probably never thought he would have to deal with a Commander-in Chief that injects so much politics in trying to make military decisions. It almost looks like Obama is looking at the polls and seeing which way the wind is going to blow before he decides on his commander's plea.
Wouldn't surprise me if McChystal just throws his arms up and resigns.

Troops in Afghanistan need a Commander-in-Chief

President Obama has gone weeks without sending the additional troops to Afghanistan that were requested by his handpicked commander Gen. McChrystal. This delay was before the disputed election in that country. No matter. President Obama is now using that disputed election as a reason to continue the delay in sending help requested by his commander.
Mr. Obama, the troops on the ground couldn't care less about who wins what election. They are fighting for their lives and their commander has requested more troops now (Actually that now has been well over a month).
While Obama has playing politics back home his troops on the ground in Afghanistan are in trouble. Act like a Commander- in-Chief and send the requested troops or get them out of there. Seems to me the troops on the ground are being left out to dry. Why choose your General to command your troops but when he asks for help he's not heard? Tell you what, just fire this General as you did the previous one. Keep appointing new Generals until you find one that tells you what you want to hear.
Moral within the military has to be fading fast with a Commander-in-Chief that refuses to respond to his General's plea for help. Maybe Obama will end up sending more troops but when and will it all ready be too late?

Obama, Don't leave the troops out to dry

At first when reading articles about the top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChyrstal, I too thought he may have been out of line when at at a speech in London he appealed for more troops in Afghanistan but that all changed when I heard remarks by Obama's defense secretary Robert Gates.
Right after 8 American's got killed in a remote Afghan outpost (there is thoughts by many in the military that the troops were stretched too thin) Gates announced it may still take weeks to decide whether to send more troops to Afghanistan or not! Come on Obama has already had weeks to decide and the troops over there don't have the luxury of waiting while Obama is taking trips to such places as Copenhagen on behalf of Chicago for the Olympics. Somebody needs to take his plane away and sit him in that oval office and don't let him come out until he makes a decision.
American's are dying in Afghanistan and their top commander, hand picked by Obama, is asking for help with more troops.
Give him the troops or get them the hell out of there. Don't leave them out to dry while your trying to make up your mind.
The more I think about this controversy with Gen. McChyrstal the more I believe he knew exactly what he was doing. You don't become a four star Gen by being stupid. Maybe the situation is so dire in Afghanistan that he felt a fire had to be lit under Obama's ass to get him to decide which way he wants to go.

Powerful movie for our times - Local Marine Killed

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago but I'm posting this now because of a good friend's son that was killed in a training accident while preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

Lcpl Zachary TenBrook USMC Middlebury, Indiana
April 12, 1988-Sept. 30, 2009
Middlebury, Indiana

Being a former Marine I may be a bit biased when I say the the HBO movie “Taking Chance” is simply one of the best war related movies I have ever seen. It's not a war movie in the traditional sense. There is no gunfire, explosions and only one death. PFC Chance who died in Iraq. . The whole movie is based on a true story by Lt. Col Michael R. Strobl who escorted the young Marine's remains back to his small home town. It is very unusual for a high ranking officer such as Lt. Col Strobl to escort the remains of a low ranking enlisted Marine but the Lt Col thought the body was going back near his hometown and volunteered to do this service. The viewer sees how PFC Chase is treated with respect and honor throughout the long process of going home. As his body passes during the different phases of the trip we see everyone from construction workers to airline employees taking a few minutes to take off their hats and pause with a minute of silence. This movie is in the same mold as “Flight 93” the excellent movie that was based on the true actions of the heroes of flight 93 that stopped the terrorists on 9/11 from crashing their plane into the supposed target of Washington DC. In that movie there were no big names because the producer wanted everyone to see the heroes of that flight as the common man, people just like you and me that arouse to the occasion in horrible circumstances. “Taking Chance” has only one recognizable name, Keven Bacon who played the Lt. Col who was nominated for a award for his performance. The movie isn't trying to get any political point across. You can be for or against the war in Iraq. It doesn't matter. What you will experience is the traditions of how the military treats their dead and the kindness of strangers to someone they have never met. Here is a link to a excellent first hand account by Lt. Col Strobl on his journey taking Chance back home. Story . We live in a fast paced, busy world but I wish people would take an hour and half out of their lives to sit back and watch a powerful movie such as this. Most people are never aware of the behind the scene events that make up such a trip to return the remains of war dead back to their families. No detail is too small. It starts with the recovery of the dead on the battlefield thousands of miles away to lowering the casket in the ground back home. This HBO movie also has been nominated for numerous awards. Some accounts have Chance being a Lcpl others a PFC. I think what happened is Chance got promoted posthumously to Lcpl.

Navy Sub Killer Idea

So the United States Navy wants both sexes on Subs. Great idea. Where else in the world would you think it would be a good idea to have 150 people of opposite sexes in the same space as a three bedroom house? Throw in months at sea with most of that time underwater and the stress of very long days and the worry of enemy action and you have a boiling pot ready to spill over.
As a former Marine stationed on both Marine and Navy bases there were always one or two major cases involving sexual harassment or perceived sexual harassment, adultery, or improper relationships such as higher ranks dating lower ranking personal. Does this make our military look bad? Of course not. I don't care how much discipline you have human nature will always win.
Another worry that critics stress is the big disparity of retention rates for females versus males in the Navy. Males are much more likely to reenlist then females and since the submarine force is relatively small (3,600 officers and 16,000 enlisted) this could lead to gaps in the submarine personal force.
Besides the lower retention rates the Navy already allows female sailors a year on land after the birth of a baby. Imagine having 50% of sub personal being female who have a much lower retention rates and pregnancy issues that can put them on land for a year and you would see the already small personal submarine force at risk of being seriously undermanned (no pun intended). Then on top of those issues you have the passion and friction of opposite sexes in very small quarters under stressful conditions.
Adm. Mike Mullen chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is giving this idea a ringing endorsement. I wonder who under his chain of command will tell him this idea is absolutely nuts?
I'm sure most liberals would consider me a sexist and would bellow that this is discrimination. In my defense I would reply let common sense prevail and don't undermine the military in protecting our country.