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The commanding officer of a West Coast-based Navy riverine squadron has been fired in the fallout from an investigation into an incident in which ten sailors were briefly captured by Iranian forces earlier this year. Cmdr. Eric Rasch, commanding officer of Coastal Riverine Squadron 3, was relieved today by Capt. Gary Leigh the commander of Coastal Riverine Group 1 due to a “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” according to a Navy release. Leigh made the decision to remove Rasch after reviewing a preliminary investigation into the incident that unfolded over Jan. 12-13. Two riverine boats carrying ten...

For decades we've heard Republicans and Democrats tell us that we have to somehow "overturn Roe vs. Wade" in order to stop the abortion holocaust. In the first place, there's nothing to "overturn." Roe was not a law. It was an arbitrary, unconstitutional, lawless court opinion delivered by a handful of oath-breaking, unprincipled, usurping judges -- men who have all already gone on to meet the Supreme Judge of the Universe to explain exactly why they did what they did. Their mere opinion, in one particular case, which opened the door to one of the largest mass murders in human...

On January 5, 2016, America lost an elite Special Forces soldier when the White House turned their back on him and his unit. Army Green Beret Sergeant First Class Matthew McClintock lost his life, and two others were wounded, when his unit came under Taliban fire in a compound in Marjah, Afghanistan. After the unit was pinned down by enemy combatants, reports say the ground commander requested support from a circling AC-130 gunship. Due to the Obama administration’s fear of collateral damage, the gunship was initially waived off. The “quick” reaction force (QRF) was also delayed by hours. Although one...

Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a former Air Force pilot who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said on Thursday that Donald Trump is openly advocating war crimes that would cause the soldiers who obeyed his orders to be jailed. “If you’re a private in the field and your major or your colonel orders you to do something that is a war crime, you actually bear responsibility, you can’t say that the colonel made me do it,” said Kinzinger, who is supporting Marco Rubio. “What Donald Trump, as wanting to be president of the United States is advocating, is a war...

Ted Cruz likes to say “personnel is policy” but the single most important personnel decision he’s made on the 2016 presidential campaign has become his most controversial. Cruz has carefully built his brand on trustworthiness — he stands almost daily in front of signs that read “TrusTED” — but in selecting his campaign manager, Cruz tapped a take-no-prisoners operative well practiced in political dark arts. Those who have crossed Cruz’s campaign manager, Jeff Roe, say things like he’s “mean” and a “master of sleazy politics.” He’s also an indisputably talented tactician who has guided Cruz from an asterisk early in...

A recent US intelligence report said that Daesh (also known as ISIL/Islamic State) is degrading. Two coalitions - one led by the US and the other by Russia - have been involved in fighting the terrorists. It is high time to figure out some differences between the two approaches. The Common Goal Russia, the United States, and Syria have one common enemy - the terrorist group Daesh. In September 2014, US President Barack Obama pledged to destroy Daesh with massive airstrikes. "Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy. We...

The speed of the news cycle and the media obsession with the presidential horseraces have crowded out a crucial development in the war on ISIS and related Islamic jihadist groups. House Speaker Paul Ryan has been sounding out colleagues for a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). The current AUMF, which was written in 2001 and targeted groups connected to 9/11, has not been renewed. Believe it or not. Bravo for Paul Ryan's statesmanship. But a new AUMF must be accompanied by a clear U.S. declaration of war against ISIS. We will never destroy them without a full-blown...

Arkansas has asked the Supreme Court to revisit its long-standing ruling that a woman can terminate a pregnancy until the fetus is viable outside of the womb. Arkansas on Tuesday asked the justices to overturn a lower court decision that found that the state’s ban on abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and when a heartbeat is detected is unconstitutional. The court established the viability standard in the 1973 case Roe v. Wade and reaffirmed it in the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Arkansas argues that the viability rule is arbitrary, not written in the constitution, and is outdated....

War is nasty, brutal and costly. In our latest wars, many of the casualties suffered by American troops are a direct result of their having to obey rules of engagement created by politicians who have never set foot on — or even seen — a battlefield. Today's battlefield commanders must be alert to the media and do-gooders who are all too ready to demonize troops involved in a battle that produces noncombatant deaths, so-called collateral damage. According to a Western Journalism article by Leigh H Bravo, "Insanity: The Rules of Engagement" (http://tinyurl.com/p59nlqs), our troops fighting in Afghanistan cannot do night...

General rips military leaders: 'They should put their stars on the table and be prepared to resign' U.S. Army Special Forces (photo: Department of Defense) Rules of engagement that risk the lives of U.S. forces and harsh punishments over questionable charges have America’s elite Green Berets fuming at the Obama administration, and the former commander of all Green Berets says it’s just the latest symptoms of a military deliberately weakened by this administration and military officials more concerned about advancement than the good of their forces and their nation. The litany of Green Beret frustration was detailed this week by...

During his historic trip to Alaska, President Barack Obama spent some time fishing at Kanakanak Beach in Dillingham and in a comical moment, a salmon spawned on his shoes. Wearing a pair of orange gloves, Obama examined some of the fish that he caught. The second one he picked up began squirting at his shoes. "Uh-oh, what's happening there?" he asked.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) encouraged constant vigilance on Wednesday, during a visit to the "Jordan Lions" Brigade in the Jordan Valley. "The result in every encounter with terrorists should be like this: that you remain standing while the terrorist is on the ground," he stated. "You should be aware that someone is looking at you and looking for the weak spot." Ya'alon also addressed the waves of terror rippling through Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. "In Judea and Samaria, we are going through a time of multiple incidents," he said. "The trick is not to become a target by terror...

Gay marriage and abortion have little in common except for how each became federal law without ever being codified by Congress. The U.S. Supreme Court's Obergefell decision delivers social change the citizenry not only did not want but which it actively fought against.

When President Obama draped the nation’s highest award for combat valor around the neck of an Afghan war hero at the White House in October 2013, a highly decorated Green Beret officer who sat nearby faced an ugly reality: The Army was investigating him on charges of murder and conspiracy. Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn was invited to the ceremony by William D. Swenson, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan four years earlier. Like Swenson, Golsteyn had braved enemy fire repeatedly, seen fellow soldiers die and voiced deep frustration with the ways he saw U.S. troops...

Mother Jones is so upset that Ted Cruz  hired a consultant who’s capable of winning elections, the magazine smeared him by invoking a Missouri-based controversy even it admits he hasn’t genuinely been linked to. The magazine waited until deep in the second paragraph to point that out. It was no surprise on Monday when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) formally announced his presidential bid. By last summer, he was making key hires for his campaign crew. And this included recruiting a controversial Missouri-based political operative named Jeff Roe, who is known for his ruthless, bare-knuckled style and who has recently been...

The sixth living servicemember to be honored with the Medal of Honor was spied on by Army investigators over an Amazon book review that mentioned his name. Captain Will Swenson received the Medal of Honor on Oct. 15, 2013 for his heroism during the Battle of Ganjgal in Afghanistan in 2009. His trash was rummaged through, leading up to the ceremony with President Obama, and his girlfriend and Seattle neighbors were confronted about his whereabouts. “There’s good reason to suspect that the investigation into Swenson was really about his award, his criticism of the Army, and the hope that agents...

Such is the quality of American military leadership that generals and political appointees like McHugh will send courageous soldiers like Golsteyn into incredibly difficult (some would suggest impossible) circumstances, then invest years in second-guessing their actions after the fact—and then, finding no evidence of wrongdoing, still publicly dishonor the man without giving him a chance to defend himself.

We first wrote about the case of U.S. Army 1LT Clint Lorance of Texas last year. His was what I termed a seriously gross miscarriage of justice. Those of us who have been stationed in Afghanistan know the tactics and actions of the enemy. Any time two or more individuals are on a motorcycle approaching your convoy or position you can bet — if unarmed — they are scouts. And if they are scouts for a main attack, they are just as dangerous a threat. Herein lies the problem of our methods of prosecuting combat operations — not overseas contingency...

First Lieutenant Clint Lorance, 1st Platoon, C Troop, 4-73 Cavalry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division U.S. intelligence and defense officials have recently estimated that 20 to 30 former Guantanamo Bay detainees have returned to the battlefields to fight alongside ISIS in Syria. While these monsters are free to terrorize minorities, rape and sexually enslave young girls, behead Western journalists, and plot to commit terror attacks on U.S. soil, an American soldier is serving 20 years at Fort Leavenworth for trying to protect his men while fighting in Afghanistan. With the holiday season upon us, it looks as though...

The 31st Beirut Memorial Observance Ceremony will be held at the Beirut Memorial in the Lejeune Memorial Gardens aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. Thursday, October 23, at 10:30 a.m. The special ceremony will honor the fallen service members and survivors who served in Lebanon from 1958 to 1984 and in Grenada. Major General Richard L. Simcock, the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade commanding general, is scheduled to deliver the Beirut memorial address. Scheduled from Oct 23 2014 10:30 AM EDT to Oct 23 2014 12:00 PM EDT