Free Republic

THIS IS AN EXCERPT: For years, many veterans and active military have been alarmed about the idiocy of the changes in battlefield evacuation known as Dust Off. For reasons having nothing to do with patient care, Dust Off has been removed from the control of the professionals, the medics, and put under the control of amateurs, aviation staff officers. According to Gen. Creighton Abrams, former U.S. Army chief of staff and former supreme commander in Vietnam: “A special word about the Dust Offs … Courage above and beyond the call of duty was sort of routine to them. It was...

Lamb reports to Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Eric Boswell, who reports to Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick F. Kennedy, who in turn reports directly to Secretary of State Clinton. A primary responsibility of Boswell and Lamb in Libya was enforcing the "No Marines, No Bullets" State Department Rules of Engagement for Libya document signed by Secretary Clinton some time within the past year and a half after the fall of Khadafi's dictatorship in Libya.

(CNSNews.com) - Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, says he's "mad as hell" about the increasing number of insider attacks, in which Afghan soldiers and police murder the Americans who are trying to train them. "You know, we're willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign. But we're not willing to be murdered for it," Gen. Allen told CBS' "60 Minutes" in a segment that aired on Sunday. Gen. Allen told CBS Correspondent Lara Logan that the insider attacks will continue: "The enemy recognizes this is a vulnerability. You know, in Iraq, the signature weapon system that...

Ex-Reagan official: 'If you think your partner may kill you, there's something wrong' Scores of U.S. troops have been killed by supposed allies within the Afghan military and police forces. These green-on-blue murders prompted the Pentagon to suspend joint patrols. Retired U.S. Marine Bing West, an author and former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs in the Reagan administration, has been embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan on many occasions and just returned from going on a series of patrols. He told WND’s Greg Corombos there really isn’t more that can be done to screen the Afghans going...

TAMPA -- Army Staff Sgt. Matt Sitton's letter from the combat zone helped turn a congressman against the war in Afghanistan. His letter to his wife from about the same time offers a glimpse into the experiences shaping his views of the war. In the letter, Sitton lashes out at his commanders, saying they were blaming their troops for failing to stop casualties. He wonders in his writing about why troops are even in Afghanistan. And he predicted the conditions his men were subject to would have ripple effects far beyond the battlefield. Complaining about an unnamed company commander, Sitton...

Below is an extraordinary, heart-stopping and historic letter. It is a letter SSG Matthew Sitton sent to U.S. Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young after his commanders in Afghanistan told him to "quit whining" about orders to lead patrols without objective "through, for lack of a better term, basically a mine field on a daily basis," as Sitton wrote. Twice daily basis, in fact. On August 2, 2012, Sitton and another US soldier were killed in one the IED-riddled field he spoke of. Eighty-one-year-old Rep. Young, who attends the same church in Florida as the Sitton family, this week announced he no...

" At least one Afghan police officer turned his gun on NATO troops at a remote checkpoint in southern Afghanistan before dawn Sunday, killing four American service members before escaping, according to Afghan and international officials. It was the third attack by Afghan forces or insurgents disguised in military uniforms against international forces in as many days, killing eight troops in all."

"Rep. Gohmert stated that the press conference was scheduled weeks ago, but emphasized how timely this discussion was in light of the attacks on the US embassy in Libya and Cairo. Billy Vaughn spoke about his son Aaron, who was killed along with 29 others when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter in which he was riding was shot down. The mission was so risky it had to be approved outside of theater. When the chopper went down, the air support did not fire to take out the enemy because there might be friendlies in the building and the ROE made no...

In what can only be described as a pitiful attempt to distract Americans from the obvious truth which is being written, and rewritten in American blood multiple times per week, General Allen excused the actions of Afghanistan's "True Soldiers of Allah". He very publicly declared that the "stresses" endured by ANA and ANP troops who participated in the month long Ramadan fast, have contributed to the very existence of "insider" attacks. Apparently, for the General, this is an acceptable explanation for "vetted" Afghan's to turn the weapons Americans have given them, against their benefactors. It wasn't long ago we heard...

In the very best light, Leon Panetta, former CIA-director-turned-SecDef, was a dupe of Communism, an enabler and supporter of its agents and advocates. That he serves in the most sensitive positions in the US government is a real-life nightmare -- only the kind in which when you scream, no one hears you. That said, how to interpret a memorandum Panetta issued on July 30 regarding "Military Justice in Combat Zones"? In this memo to secretaries of the military departments, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and a new, Panetta-created panel called the Defense Legal Policy Board, Panetta orders a review...

Questions surround Army captain’s ‘lost’ nomination for Medal of HonorWASHINGTON ---- Like other U.S. trainers with the Afghan force that day, former Army Capt. William Swenson had expected light resistance. Instead, the contingent walked into a furious six-hour gunfight with Taliban ambushers in which Swenson repeatedly charged through intense fire to retrieve wounded and dead. The 2009 battle of Ganjgal is perhaps the most remarkable of the Afghan war for its extraordinary heroism and deadly incompetence. It produced dozens of casualties, career-killing reprimands and a slew of commendations for valor. They included two Medal of Honor nominations, one for Swenson....

Lance Cpl. Hunter “H.D.” Hogan entered the USMC 26 OCT. 2009. He served with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. The most outstanding custom in the Marine Corps is simply “being a Marine” and all that it implies. Call it morale, call it esprit de corps, call it what you will — it is that pride which sets a United States Marine apart from the other armed services. It is not taught in manuals, yet it is the most impressive lesson a recruit learns in boot camp. It is not tangible, yet it has won fights against...

"The family of Lance Cpl. Hunter Hogan blamed military strategy — and the nation's commander in chief — for continued deaths in Afghanistan on Friday, the day they laid the 21-year-old Marine to rest in York. Steve Hogan, Hunter's father, buried his son in York Friday afternoon and then released a statement that blasted the military's rules of engagement in Afghanistan. Those rules have handcuffed Marines like his son as they try to wage war, he said, adding to the danger they face in some of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan."

President Barack Obama, today, release a statement celebrating the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that allowed for 54 million abortions. The decision, handed down on January 22, 1973, overturned pro-life laws offering protection for unborn children in most states across the country, and made abortions legal and virtually unlimited. The statement Obama release says: As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman’s health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters. I remain committed...

Justice Clarence Thomas correctly wrote in his concurrence to the 2007 abortion case of Gonzalez v. Carhart, "I write separately to reiterate my view that the Court’s abortion jurisprudence, including [Planned Parenthood] v. Casey and Roe v. Wade, has no basis in the Constitution." The American people need to realize how absolutely clear this really is. In fact, they need to recognize that doing nothing more than just looking to Supreme Court precedent alone is enough in and of itself to demonstrate this point all to well. Gonazelez v. Carhart, and the line of abortion cases leading to it, proves...

Before you read this, I request you check these songs and listen to EVERY SINGLE WORD. They will help you to understand what I’m speaking about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2gAi6xAxSA&list=FLNsrZy-L0vl7Eg2hdz7VEiw&index=336&feature=plpp_video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWrMeBR8W-c&ob=av2e Now read these links: http://floppingaces.net/2010/06/21/obamas-rules-of-engagement-in-afghanistan-will-ensure-we-lose/ http://www.captainsjournal.com/2011/07/13/british-soldiers-told-not-to-shoot-ied-emplacers/ http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/09/08/75036/were-pinned-down-4-us-marines.html http://www.theusreport.com/the-us-report/2010/11/11/in-afghanistan-us-fights-taliban-and-military-roe.html I want the reader to ask themselves how the daughter of a soldier must feel when she learns that her father died because his unit was denied support for fear of civilian casualties, or how the wife of a soldier would feel to learn that her husband died because he wasn’t permitted to kill the person who planted the IED that killed him. What...

They are instead being ordered to just observe insurgents and record their position to reduce the risk of civilian casualties. The controversial policy emerged at an inquest into the death of Sgt Peter Rayner, 34, a soldier from the 2nd Batallion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment who was killed in October last year by an improvised explosive device as he led a patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Wendy Rayner, 40, disclosed that in the days leading up to his death her husband been told that it was not his job to attack insurgents laying bombs.

Listening to Col David Hunt (Retired) on Fox right now explaining how the rules of engagement did not permit the Americans the Afghan pilot killed to have loaded weapons on base. The angry pilot simply shot them execution style after he left the meeting and retrieved a loaded firearm from his office. Have any of you heard this before? I am outraged. How do you fight a war with one hand tied behind your back?

I first learned of John Bernard through Diana West (“ROE Are Merely Symptom of ‘Hearts and Minds’”) and the Stars and Stripes blog entry, “Photo of dying Marine forces a difficult decision.” Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan murdered Mr. Bernard’s son, Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard. Media outlets ignored his wishes and the wishes of the Department of Defense by running a photograph of his son as he lay dying from his wounds. This initially outraged me but because our nation bombards us with insult after insult, my outrage has subsided and now I simply keep this action in mind as the...

Obama Celebrates Abortion on 38th Roe Anniversary On the 38th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decisions that allowed virtually unlimited abortion, President Barack Obama released a statement celebrating them, despite the 53 million abortions taking place since then. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/01/23/obama-celebrates-abortion-on-38th-roe-anniversary/