HEY, PATHETIC SCUM CLINTON: Shut Up on Somalia, You Lying SOB! -- Part 3

THE CLINTON CHRONICLES BOOK | 1993 | McKenney/Smith

[doug from upland]

SOMALIA DISASTER: Letter From Capt. James Smith to Clinton

CLINTON CHRONICLES BOOK
1993 Capt. James H. Smith (Ret.)

Captain James H. Smith is a retired and disable infantry officer. His son, Jaime, died needlessly in Somalia. He bled to death over a 2-3 hour period. Had armored support been provided, he could have been evacuated and his life easily saved.

We will start with the letter that the commander in chief wrote to the parents of Corporal Smith.

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October 7, 1993

Mr. and Mrs. James H. Smith
(Address redacted)

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith:

Hillary and I were very sorry to learn of the loss of your son. Specialist James E. Smith's death is a great loss for our nation, as well as for us personally, and our hearts go out to you in your sorrow.

Our efforts in Somalia have helped bring security and stability where anarchy, famine, and suffering once prevailed. You should know that your son and his fellow service men and women have preserved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Somalis. Your son's courage, and his commitment to the ideals on which America was founded, will long be remembered with pride by his fellow citizens.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton (signature)

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President William Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C., 20500

October 25, 1993

President Clinton:

As a warrior who was disabled in the Vietnam War and as a father of a warrior killed in action in Somalia, I cannot accept your letter of condolence for the death of my son Ranger Corporal James E. Smith. To accept your letter would be contrary to all the beliefs I, my son and the Rangers hold so dear, including: loyalty, courage and tenacity.

During the battle for Anzio, in World War II, an inept indecisive field commander sent the Rangers into battle where they were slaughtered. Fifty years later the Rangers again were ordered into battle, where they were surrounded and outgunned. But this time it was no the fault of the field commanders. No - this time it was the fault of the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States. Your failure to provide the requested combat support reveals a lack of loyalty to the troops under your command and an extreme shortage of moral courage.

I had the honor to meet the Rangers who fought along side my son and were with Jamie when he died. I heard of magnificent acts of courage and sacrifice. I had Rangers, with tears in their eyes, apologize for letting my son die or their failure to break through and rescue the trapped Rangers. The failure is not theirs, it is yours. Trucks and Humvees cannot replace the requested tanks, armored personnel carriers and Spectre gunships.

As a combat veteran I know that there are no certainties on the battlefield; however, as an Infantry Officer I will always speculate that significantly less casualities would have resulted if you, as Commander in Chief, provided the Rangers with the requested combat support - equipment with which Rangers routinely train and for which approval should have been automatic. The Rangers were pinned down for twelve hours - long hours when the Rangers were fighting for their lives and a Delta Force medic fought to save my son. Jamie bled to death because the requested armor support was not there to break through to the Rangers.

Rangers pride themselves on the Ranger Creed. "Driving on to the Ranger objective," or "Surrender is not a Ranger word" are not hollow phrases to the men of the black beret. These soldiers understand the word tenacious and wanted to complete their mission. As Ranger after Ranger told me, they were hitting Aidid's forces and command structure hard. But, the United Nations was actually impeding Ranger missions by offering sanctuary to Aidid's supporters. Your willingness to allow this dangerous situation demonstrates a lack of resolve in supporting the men you sent into battle.

My son is no longer here to "Lead the Way"; however, I am. Until you as President and Commander in Chief are either willing or able to formulate a clear foreign policy, establish specific objectives and, most important, support the men and women in uniform, I will "Lead the Way" in insuring that you no longer send America's finest to a needless death. When you are capable of meeting these criteria, then I will accept your letter of condolence.

Sincerely,

James H. Smith
Captain/Infantry (Retired)

[stalin]

Wasn't it the former Bush administration that sent them there without armor ?

That doesn't leave Clinton off the hook because he should have send armor too.

[doug from upland]

If you watched "Blackhawk Down," Jamie was the soldier who bled to death because he could not be evacuated.

Lt. Col. Tom McKenney (Ret) will be my guest tonight in a special 1/2 hour edition of the DFU RADIO HOUR.

Here is the announcement thread along with the link to the show --- CLICK.

[Airborne Longhorn]

I am S-O-O-O-O glad you posted this, Doug! Thanks!

[b4its2late]

Thanks for the post Doug.....

[Ciexyz]

After watching "Black Hawk Down", I understand the background story of this incident. The film showed how the medic and the other men tried desperately to save the wounded soldier from bleeding to death. I'd recommend this film.

[cubreporter]

What a strong, intelligent letter from a grieving yet wise father. I am proud of this man and I don't even know him. They may no longer physically have their beloved son but...they have his past life, their family life and all they were to each other and THAT Mr. Clinton is what you cannot nor never will be able to understand!

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

Let's be very careful who we elect to be Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military forces in the history of the world. I submit that a draft-dodging, pot-smoking hippie peacenik who "loathes the Military" was a damn poor choice!

RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!

[tet68]

Bump.

[Catie]

I was so very angry after watching "Blackhawk Down." Clinton, who recently blamed Bush I for the Somalia catastrophe, is shameless and blameworthy. He sent those men in without the required air support in order to pacify the UN -- our great men were sitting ducks.

[El Sordo]

Bush the Elder sent the military in to provide humanitarian aid. That went quite well.

Klintoon took that successful operation and turned it into something entirely different. He decided to get into the 'nation building' game and that's when it all went to Hell.

However it should not be overlooked that Colin Powell bears a large part of the responsibility as well.

[Catie]

Wrong -- they were slaughtered under Clinton's watch.

[Alberta's Child]

While I can sympathize with the father of this Ranger and understand exactly what motivated him to write that letter, I would also say that he was a bit out of line. When you sign up for the armed forces, you have to assume that the people who are sending you into harm's way are either politically motivated or dumber than a bag of rocks.

It's worth noting, by the way, that this attitude of mine is precisely what has kept many very capable people from joining the armed forces.

[Calvin Coolidge]

If you read the book 'Black Hawk Down', on which the movie was based, they throw a lot of cold water on the theory that having heavy armor available would have made evacuation possible. The Germans' experience at Stalingrad, and the Soviets' at Berlin, taught how ill-suited armor is for use in close-quarters street fighting. Let's blame Clinton for sending the Rangers into Somalia in the first place, and for then pulling them out as soon as the shooting started; guaranteeing that the young men's lives were lost in vain. But the Black Hawk mission itself was an Army job, and it's military failures are their responsibility.

[stalin]

I didn't say that "they were slaughtered" under Bush's watch. Try reading peoples posts before replying.

[doug from upland]

Actually, as you should know, Bush sent troops on a humanitarian mission. The situation, however, continued to escalate and Sinkmaster had to make some decisions.

FROM THE CLINTON CHRONICLES BOOK:

When the Clinton Administration was planning for the raid, the need for armored vehicle support was pointed out. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said "no" to the use of armored vehicles. His rationale? "We don't want to escalate the situation."

Bill Clinton concurred, and there in the air-conditioned safety of the White House, the doom of those Rangers in the stifling, stinking, bloody heat of Mogadishu, was sealed.

--end--

I hope that answers your question. The quatgmire widened under Clinton. He had an opportunity to do military what needed to be done but refused. I will put up another installment of this series perhaps today. An AC-130 support aircraft had been previously withdrawn because civilian policy makers called it "being too warlike." Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had recommended armored vehicles support; the Marine general in overall command had requested armored vehicle support; the Army general in local command had requested armored vehilce support.

[Catie]

No, I did. If you watch the movie, which is reputed to be historically accurate, I think you would agree that those men were indeed slaughtered.

[elbucko]

That doesn't leave Clinton off the hook..

Hey Stalin! RU from DU? You are. I thought so.

[doug from upland]

CHECK POST NO. 3 ON THIS THREAD AND TUNE IN TONIGHT TO THE DFU RADIO HOUR (1/2 hour tonight).

[stalin]

The humanitarian aid that Bush sent in the troops to provide didn't go quite well. In fact it wasn't going at all. It was being stolen by the warlords who were keeping it from those who needed it , feeding their men and suporters with and and selling it.

That's when the mission creep happened.

We had to either kick serious ass or get out at that point. Clinton chose the path that almost all politicians choose. The path of least resistence - a slow and predictable increase in the use of force but not enouph to get the job done.
That's what made Clinton a terrible foriegn policy president. That's why Bush the elder left Sadam in power. That's why we tried to use mercinaries to do our fighting for us in Afganistan , etc etc etc.