When Generals Fail

Military Misbehavin’ -- Mark Thompson, Time

 The Army charged a general who has served five combat tours with a lengthy roster of sexual-assault and other charges last week. Why do such high-flying senior officers sometimes crash and burn like this? Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair remains innocent until proven guilty on charges including forcible sodomy, wrongful sexual conduct, inappropriate relationships and a trifecta of trouble involving misuse of a government credit card and possessing booze and porn while deployed (“It sounds like he pissed somebody off,” a retired Army colonel notes of the long list of alleged crimes, for which he faces court martial). But interviews with more than a dozen military officers, both retired and active duty, offer insights into such cases. “They’re GI Joes of the generals,” says one retired Army general. “They’ve got this whole combat persona that they project and use, and the Army is not set up to look past that. They can get away with a lot.”

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My Comment: Here is another General that is receiving a lot of scrutiny.

Supporters Vow To Keep The Cross At The Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial

Soledad Memorial

Supporters Vow To Keep Cross In California Veterans Tribute Despite Court Ruling -- FOX News

For decades, there has been a First Amendment battle raging over the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial in La Jolla, Calif., where a large cross anchors a tribute to Korean War veterans.

Because it sits on public property, the American Civil Liberties Union has long argued that the cross amounts to an unconstitutional entanglement of government and religion.

In 2011, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, triggering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but in June, the high court justices declined to hear the case.

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My Comment: Another example of the ACLU continuing it's efforts to wipe out any Christian references on memorials that are on government property .... but I think they have overstepped on this one.

Update: A regular reader has emailed me with the question ..... since the gravestones at Arlington cemetery and other military cemeteries have crosses, Star of David, etc. symbols ..... and these cemeteries are on government land .... can the ACLU argue that this is an unconstitutional entanglement of government and religion?

According to their argument .... and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals .... the answer apparently is yes.

US Sued By The Relatives Of US Citizens Killed By Drone Strikes In Yemen

Anwar al-Awlaki was seen as an astute communicator and linked to several plots. BBC

Relatives Sue Officials Over U.S. Citizens Killed by Drone Strikes In Yemen -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Relatives of three American citizens killed in drone strikes in Yemen last year filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against four senior national security officials on Wednesday. The suit, in the Federal District Court here, opened a new chapter in the legal wrangling over the Obama administration’s use of drones in pursuit of terrorism suspects away from traditional “hot” battlefields like Afghanistan.

The first strike, on Sept. 30, killed a group of people including Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric who was born in New Mexico, and Samir Khan, a naturalized American citizen who lived at times in Queens, Long Island and North Carolina. The second, on Oct. 14, killed a group of people including Mr. Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, who was born in Colorado.

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More News on The US Being Sued By The Relatives Of US Citizens Killed By Drone Strikes In Yemen

Military sued over al-Awlaki Yemen drone death -- BBC
Awlaki family sues Panetta, Petraeus -- UPI
Families of US citizens killed in drone strike file wrongful death lawsuit -- The Guardian
Families sue US for killing three citizens in Yemen drone strikes -- Christian Science Monitor
Awlaki family files suit against US government over drone strikes -- FOX News
Killing of Al Qaeda cleric Awlaki unconstitutional, suit charges -- L.A. Times
Families of Americans killed by drones file suit -- Washington Post
Civil rights groups sue U.S. for killing of Americans tied to al Qaeda -- CNN
ACLU suing U.S. over drone killings of citizens in Yemen -- New York Daily News
CIA sued over targeted-kill drone strikes -- RT

Why Is The White House Preparing For Martial Law ?

President Obama Signs Executive Order Allowing For Control Over All US Resources -- Examiner

On March 16th, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands upon a prior order issued in 1950 for Disaster Preparedness, and gives the office of the President complete control over all the resources in the United States in times of war or emergency.

The National Defense Resources Preparedness order gives the Executive Branch the power to control and allocate energy, production, transportation, food, and even water resources by decree under the auspices of national defense and national security. The order is not limited to wartime implementation, as one of the order's functions includes the command and control of resources in peacetime determinations.

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Update: POLICE STATE USA: New Obama Executive Order Seizes U.S. Infrastructure and Citizens for Military Preparedness -- Global Research

My Comment: The executive order can be read here. What's my take .... I am asking myself why now .... what does the White House know that it is not telling us. Or my to the point .... what is the White House afraid of that would propel it to write up such an executive order .... and to have President Obama sign it quickly .... without public debate or discussion .... and to do it .... basically .... under the radar.

There is more happening out there that they are not telling us ....

Update: I have been asked by a regular reader on what do I think is happening. My prediction ... and the reason why this order was signed .... is that the White House has made the determination that Israel will be striking Iran's nuclear facilities in the near future, and as a result there will be major worldwide disruptions in the supply of oil. Oil will be hitting $200/barrel (and more), and tensions worldwide will be the result of it. What is the White House is doing is .... basically .... preparing for the worse case scenario.

Navy Photographer Settles Passport Fraud Case

Photo: Elisha Dawkins

Navy Photographer In Guantanamo Case Settles For Probation -- McClatchy News

Military veteran Elisha Dawkins, 26, was set for trial for making a false statement on a U.S. passport. He grew up in Miami, his lawyer says, believing he was a U.S. citizen.

A U.S. military veteran of the Iraq surge and Guantánamo averted a federal passport fraud trial on Tuesday by settling for probation in a deal that lets him stay in the United States for now and perhaps continue Navy service.

Under the deal, Navy Reserves Petty Officer Elisha Leo Dawkins, 26, ducked a felony conviction and will have the opportunity to settle his citizenship question separately with U.S. immigration authorities.

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My Comment: This American hero deserves the benefit of the doubt .... I hope he succeeds in his immigration case, and become what he always believed he was .... a U.S. citizen.

Israel's Use Of 'Soft Power' And The Law Is Crushing The Free Gaza Movement

Israeli Soft Power Crushing Free Gaza Movement -- Information Dissemination

Have you heard from the Gaza flotilla much lately? Probably not, unless you are looking for information. Gaza is 1.5 million people denied legitimacy for self-governance who are basically caged in by what can be described as prison walls on all sides. One would think this is one group of people that could find sympathy, particularly when the oppressor is Israel.

Nope! Not with friends like the Free Gaza Movement. Israel is putting on a soft power clinic in dealing with non-governmental organizations attempting to make political splashes from the shadow zones, and the whole world would be wise to learn from the approach Israel has taken against the second flotilla. Israel has turned the Gaza flotilla into a flotilla flop in a remarkably systematic way. This summary of events posted by Melanie Phillips on June 29th is a MUST READ.

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My Comment: The Israeli's are actually adopting a very common strategy .... go after the money, or in this case .... threaten to go after the assets of other players who may find themselves exposed to liability claims that may put them out of business. David Frum analyzes this strategy further in the following post.

The Case Of Petty Officer Elisha Dawkins

Navy Guantanamo Photographer Freed Pending Trial -- Miami Herald

Petty Officer Elisha Dawkins walked out of court still wearing a tan federal detainee’s garb, and got to go home to Jacksonville for the weekend. His trial starts Tuesday.

A federal magistrate ordered a veteran U.S. military combat photographer released from a federal detention center Friday, on condition he returns to court for next week’s federal passport fraud trial.

Navy Reserves Petty Officer Elisha Leo Dawkins, 26, had been held in a downtown federal lockup for six weeks. He was arrested in Jacksonville soon after he returned from a seven-month stint at Guantánamo, where he chronicled the lives of war on terror detainees.

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Update: Veteran accused of passport fraud freed days ahead of trial -- CNN

My Comment: This soldier is a hero, who has served his country with honor and distinction. He should never have spent 1 second in jail, and he should not be going through what he is going through right now.

Why Are Pentagon Employees Purchasing Child Pornography On Defense Department Computers?

Pentagon To Investigate Hundreds Of Suspected Child Pornography Fans In Its Ranks -- Yahoo News/Upshot

In a reversal, the Pentagon says it will reopen hundreds of cases of alleged purchases of child pornography by Department of Defense employees that Pentagon officials previously declined to investigate, The Upshot has learned.

Earlier this month, The Upshot reported exclusively that in 2007, investigators for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service obtained a list of 264 military service members, civilian employees and contractors for the Department of Defense who had used credit cards or PayPal to purchase access to a child pornography website. But the DCIS, citing scarce resources, pursued only 52 of the names before closing the project -- known as Project Flicker -- in 2008. Since no further public information on the cases was made available, it appears that the other people on the list of suspected child-pornography patrons were able to continue their careers without any interruption that stemmed from the investigation.

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My Comment: Pentagon officials are not above the law. Investigate .... and if there is enough evidence .... prosecute.