FROM THE EDITOR

April 03, 2006

A wounded warrior

By Tim Maxwell, Tim Maxwell is stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. E-mail: woundedteam@sempermax.com
I AM A MARINE — a lieutenant colonel. I know about war. I have studied it for more than 20 years. I have been deployed overseas six times. Three times since 9/11.
Recently, I learned all about another part of war. I was badly wounded during a mortar attack in Iraq in October 2004. It is a traumatic brain injury. My left elbow also was busted. My left cheek has metal in it. It was tough to eat for awhile. It's hard to see.
But that stuff is irrelevant compared to the brain injury. A section of the left side of my brain is dead. I am learning to read and write again. It's tough. My third-grade son reads a lot better than me. Typing this article was exhausting.
But I have learned something too: what it is like to be a wounded warrior.
http://www.patriotwatch.com/GeneralChong.htm

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Death is a constant companion for those who serve in a time of war. Although able to sever the physical tie, it is incapable of breaking the bonds of spirit."
--Nick Rowe

"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
-Abraham Lincoln

PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS

When Cynicism Meets Fanaticism

— Victor Davis Hanson

Opponents of the war in Iraq, both original critics and the mea culpa recent converts, have made eight assumptions. The first six are wrong, the last two still unsettled.
1. Saddam was never connected to al Qaeda, the perpetrators of 9/11.
2. There was no real threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
3. The United Nations and our allies were justifiably opposed on principle to the invasion. 4. A small cabal of neoconservative (and mostly Jewish) intellectuals bullied the administration into a war that served Israel’s interest more than our own.
5. Saddam could not be easily deposed, or at least he could not be successfully replaced with a democratic government.
6. The architects of this war and the subsequent occupation are mostly inept (“dangerously incompetent”) — and are exposed daily as clueless by a professional cadre of disinterested journalists.
7. In realist terms, the benefits to be gained from the war will never justify the costs incurred. 8. We cannot win.
First, notice how the old criticism that Saddam was not connected to al Qaeda has now morphed into a fallback position that “Saddam was not connected to September 11” — even though the latter argument was never officially advanced as a casus belli.
http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson200603310745.asp

Peace and stability industry is accountable

Doug Brooks
President, International Peace Operations Association
Regarding your March 25 editorial "Hired guns: U.S.-paid private security contractors in Iraq seem to work almost literally without oversight...," private contractors supporting U.S.-backed security, peacekeeping and stability operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere are overseen by a multitude of federal offices, including contracting officers, inspectors general, auditors, investigators and prosecutors, as well as by their own professional association, the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA).
IPOA members are professional companies that have decided to take the lead in bringing improved standards, increased accountability and more responsible U.S. and international regulation to the peace and stability industry. All IPOA members have agreed to support a Code of Conduct and to acknowledge and respect the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the body of international humanitarian law contained in both the Hague and Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols.
http://www.newsobserver.com/720/story/422927.html

TARGET FOLDERS – A KEY ELEMENT IN TACTICAL OPERATIONS PLANNING

By Duke Speed
Tactical team commanders and administrators typically devote a significant amount of time to training, including the development of firearm and tactical skills, legal procedures, physical conditioning, and additional like activities. Significant time is devoted to training for events that the tactical team operator will face when responding to a call-out. Topics such as barricade breaching, combat marksmanship, command and control, close quarter battle, creating diversions, hostage rescue procedures, and other tactical topics are typically well-versed and thoroughly rehearsed. Intelligence development, although critical to operational success, has a tendency to oftentimes take a back seat to the sexier, glamorous topics in training. This article will focus on intelligence development, specifically how the creation, development, and utilization of target folders can significantly improve the chances of operational success.
http://www.swatdigest.com/archives/swmag_mar_targetfolders.html

BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL

North Korea Might Be Exporting Fake $100 Bills

China's central bank warned its lenders about an influx of high-quality counterfeit American $100 bills -- which the United States alleges are made by North Korea -- as the spread of the forgeries moves toward the center of a standoff between Washington and Pyongyang. Governments around Asia are stepping up surveillance for the bogus currency, which law-enforcement officials have dubbed supernotes because they are so difficult to distinguish from genuine money. The fake $100 bills have turned up in the United States, Philippines, Taiwan and elsewhere over the past two years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/23/AR2006032301534.html

N.Y. Releases Recordings Of 911 Calls Made on Sept. 11

New York authorities released partial recordings yesterday of 911 calls that began pouring in on the sunny and deadly morning of Sept. 11, 2001, as emergency operators struggled to comprehend the chaos unfolding at the burning World Trade Center. "You saw an explosion?" one fire department operator asked at 8:47 a.m., about a minute after American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower at the start of the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history. "You saw an explosion at the twin towers?" About 18 minutes later, a police operator told the fire department that "on the northwest side there's a woman hanging from -- an unidentified person hanging from the top of the building."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/31/AR2006033100928.html

South of the border, fence is no deterrent

They stream in. Today, the same as yesterday. The same as the day before. Backpacks are stuffed with bottled water, soap, chips, maybe an icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe. They wear sweaters and wool hats for the cold desert nights. It often starts here, in Altar, 60 miles south of the Arizona border, at one of the largest staging points for would-be migrants attempting to cross into the US illegally. The travelers arrive from all over Mexico, Central America, even as far away as Colombia, and Brazil. http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2006/0329/p01s03-woam.html

4 Policemen Killed at Afghan Checkpoint

A Taliban rebel posing as a traveler shot dead four policemen at a remote checkpoint in southern Afghanistan after eating dinner with them and sleeping in their quarters, officials said Sunday. A fifth officer shot the rebel dead.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060402/D8GNO0J00.html

JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL

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SECURITY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL

'Tactical Errors' Made In Iraq, Rice Concedes

Greeted by antiwar protesters at almost every stop in a tour of a working-class region of England, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that the Bush administration has probably made thousands of "tactical errors" in its handling of the Iraq war. But she defended the invasion as the right strategic decision. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein "wasn't going anywhere without military intervention," Rice told a crowd of British foreign policy experts in the clubhouse of the local soccer stadium here. And, she said, "you were not going to have a different Middle East with Saddam Hussein at the center of it."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/31/AR2006033101019.html

U.S. Troop Fatalities Hit A Low; Iraqi Deaths Soar

March was the least deadly month in more than two years for U.S. troops in Iraq, but a surge in killings of Iraqi troops and civilians suggests that the overall death rate in the conflict is growing, according to military data. U.S. forces suffered 30 fatalities in the past month, less than one a day, according to data compiled by the Brookings Institution. It was the lowest total since February 2004, when 21 service members were killed. Combat-related deaths during March numbered 25, declining for the fifth consecutive month. The March numbers could still rise because the military sometimes does not report deaths until several days after they occur.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/31/AR2006033101745.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/31/AR2006033101745.html

Security Council turns up pressure against Iran

The United Nations Security Council has given Iran 30 days to offer proof of its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons. With that step under their belt, the United States and Europe in particular now want to avoid seeing Tehran use that month as a cover for advancing further down a road of no return to the bomb. That desire drove what Western officials called a "strategy session" in Berlin Thursday, where foreign ministers including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice considered the question of how best to keep up international pressure on Iran. http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2006/0331/p02s02-wogi.html

Iraq Shiites break ranks, urge PM to quit

Leaders of Iraq’s ruling Shiite Alliance bloc called publicly for the first time on Saturday for Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down as prime minister to break weeks of deadlock over a national unity government. The call declared by one leader and echoed, anonymously, by others sparked consternation in the Alliance ranks as parties held their latest round of talks on a grand coalition with Kurds and Sunnis, who are adamant in their rejection of Jaafari. Officials say a unity government, more than three months after December’s election, is vital to averting civil war after five weeks of spiraling sectarian bloodshed. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12108010/

FRANKS REVIEW

Service Equipment Review:

“Tactical” Field Knives

For the past two weeks on the Recreational Reviews side, I've gone over a few fixed and folding blade knives that I've found to be good performers for camping, hiking, boating, etc. This week I wanted to take a look at some fixed blade knives that I've found to be adequate for the unpredictable and often abusive nature of "tactical" work. Now, it's a given in marketing that if you put on the word "tactical", make something camouflage or black and put velcro on it somewhere, you can sell it. If you can put "magnum" in there with "tactical" it will sell twice as well. Few of the knives reviewed here need gimmicks to sell them. They are all well designed, strong, durable, maintainable and dependable.

The rest of the story: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/knives/fieldblades.htm

Recreational Equipment Review:

Marlin Model 25 Rifle

I've been accused of being too Pro 2nd Amendment, and although I'm not sure such a thing is possible, I admit to being greatly in favor of the right to keep and bear arms. In fact, one of the things I feel is imperative to accomplish is the proper education of my children with regard to the safety with and usage of firearms. To that end, every member of my family owns a firearm. I own a shotgun, rifle (or three) and several handguns. My wife own a shotgun and handgun. My son owns a rifle and handgun. My daughter owns a rifle: that rifle is the Marlin Model 25, .22WMR. This week I'm going to take a look at this rifle; it's characteristics; its performance; and how well it adapts to safe recreational shooting.

The rest of the story: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/huntfish/marlin25.htm

CHAPLAINS CORNER

A RARE BREED...

RARE - Infrequently occurring;
                uncommon;
                excellent;
                extraordinary;
                especially valued for its uncommonness;
                marked by an uncommon quality;
                especially superlative;
                extreme of its kind.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company and WordNet ® 2.0,
© 2003 Princeton University.

The definition of "rare" is also the definition of the attributes of Peace Keepers.
Infrequently occurring - not common among the population from which they originate;
excellent in those attributes needed for the duty and commitment of peace keeping;
extraordinary; of great value; especially valued and greatly needed because of the
infrequency of their happening among the population... a very, very small percentage
of the whole population... 870,000 federal, state and local law enforcement officers
that are currently serving today in the homeland (more than 17,000 law enforcement
officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the preservation of life and liberty in
the homeland)... Our military consists of 1.8 million active duty with approximately
900,000 in the reserves.
http://blackwaterusa.com/btw2006/articles/040306chaplain.html

Last week the link was broken, it has been fixed, read the March 27th issue here: http://blackwaterusa.com/btw2006/articles/032706chaplain.html

Be Blessed(a condition to be envied by the world).
Be Successful. Be SAFE.
VSP ALUMNI 757-431-2190
Chaplain D.R.Staton, VBPD (Don, C1)
chpln1@verizon.net

BUMPER STICKER

SURROUNDED = CENTER OF A TARGET RICH ENVIRONMENT
(AMMO DROPS MOST WELCOMED)

LEGAL NOTICE

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