The Great American Freak Show

Let us define freak as follows: a person, animal or plant that is markedly unusual or deformed. Years ago this definition applied mainly to side-show curiosities or things preserved in formaldehyde in laboratory jars. There were, for example, cows with two udders, calves with two heads, and bearded ladies; even remember a mummified Chicago gangster with his chest riddled with bullet holes. There were human fetuses in lab jars that were half fish. Now instead of finding these oddities in carnivals or packed away in medical specimen collections, we live among them.

Poor rich boy Michael Jackson was a highly successful talented song and dance man who had a flair for producing entertainment extravaganzas. He recently died at the age of 50, apparently rehearsing for a final world-wide tour that already had sold out tickets at a minimum of a hundred dollars each – a lot more than the 14 cents I used to pay as a kid to observe the freaks at a sideshow.

Jackson pushed the boundaries of his showmanship. On one occasion, making a soft drink commercial, his hair accidently caught on fire. But apart from his talent, the public seemed equally fascinated by his freakish behavior. He was a black man who managed change his cast white and his nose operations gave him a skeletal visage; he was five foot 11 inches tall and weighted 125 pounds or less at death.

He had been knee deep in court cases involving child molestation; throughout his life he spent millions on a flamboyant self-indulgent life style, yet on his death, it is rumored that he owed a 500,000 million which included a $100,000 pharmacy bill in LA, California. Given the controversy at his death, we wonder whether it will take longer to bury the King of Pop than it did the late black artist, King of Soul, James Brown. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are in the mix, so expect a circus.

Celebrity freaks are expected, as the one recently found hanging nude in a closet in swanky hotel in Thailand with his genitals tied to a string on his hand; these people, dismissed a weirdos, are damaged by too many strobe lights. If you take any entertainment celebrity seriously, you may wish to re-inventory your value system. And I include the metamorphosis of actor to President Ronald Reagan in this wide net.

Another category of celebrity who reeks even more havoc on society is the politician. A sub-category is the Christ-crazy religious freak who works his way into power elected by a like-minded constituency. These mostly evangelical sects use their position to proselytize their beliefs. If they had their way, every billboard would advertise: Jesus Saves; abortionists would be shot on sight, and Charles Darwin's books burned to be replaced with Bible stories. This gun-smitten section of our society also would push for a hand gun in every lunch box.

Still in a democracy you have the power to vote to limit their power. And with the recent presidential election, there is evidence that Religious Rights Power is weakening. Part of it was the stupefying conduct of born again GW Bush. Another is the Republican leadership problem of preaching one thing and doing the opposite.

Islam, Mormons and Confucians have tried to curb man's innate lust by polygamy, allowing him a certain number of wives, if affordable. Turkish and Chinese harems brought this regime to a refined social order. Catholics devised confessions to rid themselves of guilt once they felt sorry for the sins of the flesh. Hence, Europeans mostly in Catholic tradition, appear unfazed by the dalliances of their politicians.

But fornication and adultery were strictly banned by born-again Christians in the US. By preaching family values, the evangelicals believed they could chase the illicit sex demon away. They of course were wrong as many of their heros slipped into that sweet honey pot of sin.

Look, pitiful Barney Franks, Bill Clinton and Elliot Spitzer let the wrong part of their body make their squalid decisions; unlike the evangelists, none professed a purity of soul. Clinton used Jesse Jackson to promote a half-assed redemption; he denied he had sex with that women; but, Monica's blue dress with Clinton's DNA made him a lying fool.

Edwards was just a horny guy with a sick wife who followed his lolly. You make your own moral judgement. For me he was just too smarmy and his paramour was a hag; but as Kipling said: She was rag, a bone and a hank of hair, but she was his lady fair. Edwards was to betray many people who believed in him.

All these errant demos are creeps who betrayed public trust; the Republicans who commit sexual transgressions are freaks because they professed religious beliefs and publicly castigated those who did not bend to their credo. Foley, Craig, Ensign, Vitter, Gingrich, and now Sanford were spawn from the Religious Right – used their religion to promote themselves, but once they sinned, fell to earth like blazing comets.

Sanford's wife recently had an interview with reporters at the Sanford beach house and explained her devastation over her husbands affair. Stacked on the coffee table in front of her were devotional books. Time has come for the Republican Party to put their religion on a shelf and focus on the kingdom of man.

As far as Sanford's mistress in Argentina, there is no way to determine whether she is worth the destruction of his political career and possibly his marriage. But I will tell you one thing... there are many senoritas with that flair and allurement a lot closer to his home in South Carolina... in Orlando, Miami, and Puerto Rico; for certain, the carfare is a lot less than to Buenos Aires. But no one claims Holy Rollers have judgement. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret

Photograph: Painting Saturn by Francisco Goya

Temptations of Intervention – Iran et. al.

To fish in troubled waters or not? That is the question. The recent tizzy and follies over Iran pushes the issue front and center.

When Castro took Cuba in 1959, the US right wing wanted to stage a counter revolution and snatch Fidel's New Years prize from him; however, the left wing led by the NY Times prevailed. Many believed Castro was not a Communist, but rather an agrarian reformer; this foolishness persisted well after Castro lined up his opponents before a firing squad and nationalized US commercial interests in Cuba without compensation.

All this developed right under Republican President's I like Ike's nose. If there was ever a historical moment to intervene, a Cuban intervention by the US was it – succeeding history has made this clear; the time was ripe and the US has paid a costly price for its hesitation and military failures.

The Hungarian Revolution in 1956 was another period of political chaos. The Hungarians were encouraged by the Voice of America to revolt against the Soviet occupation. When the Soviet Union proceeded to slaughter about 2500 Hungarian freedom fighters, the US just stood by, meeting 200,000 refugees at the Austrian border with bandages and US visas – for the US, it was a debacle.

Despite the call for revolt, the US was not prepared to fight the Red Army over Hungarian freedom; on the contrary, the Red Army would fight for Hungarian captivity. After suppressing the revolt, to make this clear, the USSR increased the size of its garrison with more motorized infantry and tank divisions.

When the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia, I had a birds-eye view as a US Army Military attache stationed in Moscow. It was clear from Washington's skeptical reaction to cables that portended Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, that no one in high places wanted to hear of any such possibility. Anyone on the ground knew the Soviet Union would not twiddle its thumbs as Dubček with his so called Prague Spring would be permitted to withdraw from the Warsaw pact. I had a well-placed source in Moscow that reported regularly to me on the build-up of Soviet forces. These reports alarmed Washington to the extent that I was ordered not to send the reports by cable, but forward them by pouch only. (FYI Pouch is much slower and has lower level dissemination.)

A few days after the invasion, in the last week of August 1968, I met my source at a diplomatic reception. I asked him half-jokingly why he did not provide me the date/time on the invasion. He replied with: What difference would it had made? All your country would do is protest. He added that he had the invasion routes, troop lists and Warsaw Pact components. He then suggested we follow a Russian proverb which advises, what will be, will be, but it is always necessary to drink. At that he dragged me to the bar and we polished off a brandy snifter filled with Armenian cognac toasting the proverb...

Weeks later we learned that negotiations for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks had been initiated and the US Administration stupidly could not believe the USSR would jeopardize them with an invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The US Ambassador in Moscow confessed to a congressional delegation visiting Moscow that half his staff believed the Soviets would invade and the other half did not. CIA told him what he wanted to hear and his military attaches the opposite. CIA was to repeat its pitiful bootlicking in a SLAM DUNK run-up to the Iraq war later in 2002-3, with much more damage to US interests.

The invasion of Kuwait was Phase I of the invasion of Iraq. President GHW Bush called for the Iraqi Shiites to revolt as coalition forces exited Kuwait/Iraq after ejecting Saddam. Weapons captured from the Iraqis were held on Iraqi land. When Shiites requested these weapons to fight Saddam in an insurrection, their repeated requests were denied by the US. An estimated 60-100 thousand Shiites were slaughtered by Saddam as they rose against him. Loose lips by dopey American pols have had people killed.

Many Republicans in congress have criticized Obama for not intervening politically during the current crises in Iran. Both houses of congress, however, passed resolutions finding abuse of the Iranian people morally repugnant. Ron Paul was the only member from both houses who refused to vote for it. He should be congratulated for not joining the knee-jerk stampeding congressional herd.

Some Republican senators, obediently following Israeli policy, are calling for a regime change. You have to wonder whether these people are Israeli lap dogs or running dogs. US military and political entanglement in Iran is not in the US interest. This is why Obama tries to hold the US criticism on a moral level. By this time the American people should have figured out that what is good for Israel is not good for the US.

What Bomb Bomb McCain and his Israeli pals wish would backfire badly; it would inflame Persian nationalism; Iranian leadership would scapegoat the US for their internal problems to include the bloody suppression of anti-regime elements. It would destroy any hope for US/Iranian rapprochement.

As with the pictures from Somali during starvations there during the Bush/Clinton periods, the over-excited main stream media again wants action. Shepard Smith at Fox News last weekend nearly had a calf over the brutal photography from Iran. He almost wept over his vexation that he had serious problems confirming facts. Glen Beck also at Fox News cries easily too. He gives us tears weekly. Come on girlie-boys, the US ain't really got a dog in this fight.

There is almost no difference in Ahmadinejad and his opponents – all want a religious state; all have centralized economics and, all hate the West as they are children of the Iranian revolution. Let us hope both sides lose. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.

Murder at the Holocaust Museum

It was an 88-year old man with a relic 22 calibre rifle named von Brunn who murdered a black security guard in an attempt single-handedly to storm the Holocaust Museum and Memorial in Washington DC a few days ago.

Von Brunn apparently was so physically decrepit that the guard whom he killed with a single shot in the breast sought to help his assailant through the door. After he fired, other museum guards quickly brought von Brunn down in the doorway with head shots: two 38 calibre slugs in the face. Last report was that von Brunn was in critical condition in a Washington, DC hospital, charged federally with murder.

Murder in our nation's capitol is a recurring horror, but this one stopped traffic on a key artery, the 14th Street Bridge, and caused paroxysms of journalistic frenzy. We learned immediately that the killer was a neo-nazi anti government hater. He left his manifesto in his car that was double parked outside the museum – it was reread repeatedly for at least three days by a titillated main stream media.

About the only groups that pay much attention to these neo-nazis or skin heads are the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose main spokesmen appear Jewish; swastika tattooed Aryan Brotherhood types, who abound locked in prisons; and, wanna-be storm troopers found roaming in wooded mountain states. There are American Jewish groups who react to Holocaust issues with fury and hunt for Holocaust deniers, now that most of the Nazis are dead and gone.

For example, on 11 June 09, Newsmax.com published an over-the-top story by Rabbi Dr. Morton H. Pomerantz titled: Obama Breeds Climate of Hate Against Jews. He wrote: Our new president did not tell a virulent anti-Semite to travel to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington to kill Jews, but he is most certainly creating a climate of hate against us. It is no coincidence that we are witnessing this level of hatred toward Jews as President Barack Obama positions America against the Jewish state... In Cairo, Obama said things that pose a grave danger to Jews in Israel, in America and everywhere. This screed gives you the sense of the hysteria that can be found over the issue in America.

Relax Rabbi, Dr. Pomerantz, no Jews were killed; only black people are in mourning and they do not blame Obama.

The FBI took the neo-nazi threat seriously some time ago and crushed the leadership cadres. At best, the movement survives on an individual basis or small cell – the open, mass David Duke appeal has long disappeared. A Lone Wolf like von Brunn continues to be a problem for the FBI as they operate in outside networks, and are not easily penetrated.

One crazy fallout is the fascist and racist memorabilia attraction. About 20 years ago the New York Times Sunday Magazine section published an article with photographs depicting American Jews as the largest group of collectors of Nazi uniforms and objects. Ebay now proscribes the sale of such Third Reich items, but the market flourishes and not only among Jews. Sale of the such items in Germany is VERBOTEN.

As museums are opening in the US celebrating the racial struggle, a market in slave related items, segregation signage, and Klan regalia is developing. Little Black Sambo has returned to its historical niche.

The general media outrage of the murder by von Brunn at the museum may have had the opposite intended effect: by publishing his demented creed while it condemned, the process had the opposite affect of propagandizing it. The adage that a WICKED BOOK GATHERS NO DUST has merit. Except for the announcement that the museum is now open, the sudden collapse of the story after three days of intensity bears witness to the editors' late enlightenment. Too late, the neo-nazis will count him as hero and figuratively send von Brunn to Valhalla with a Viking funeral.

The FBI has announced von Brunn will survive his wounds. Depending on how much cognition the 88-year old man, shot twice in the head, has left, the projected trial may draw more freakish attention than OJ's. It is a sordid tale that will end sordidly. Colonial Robert E Bartos USA Ret.

Obama’s Words & Actions

A WORD AND THEN A BLOW was probably a motto on some ancient nobleman's crest. Reviewing President Obama's rapid fire, BANG BANG speech itinerary this last week in foreign lands, you have to wonder when his rhetoric stops and his deeds begin. The more speeches he delivers, the more he sounds the same. Much of his substance is recycled stuff that promoted him during his presidential bid, now retuned for a world audience. One exception was his speech in Cairo, Egypt.

Sure the Cairo speech had that artful Axelrod blissful touch of making a black man non-threatening to a non-black audience. It had the typical apologetic self-effacing hallmarks of a better world combined with thoughtful logic. In this case, this audience was third world; it had painful recollections of invading, rootin shootin pink-skinned, bible quoting crusader GW Bush – so brown Obama, using Arabic and Koranic phrases, could have had a tail, horns, bat wings and pitchfork; he still would have received a standing ovation with shouts from the assembled at Cairo University of WE LOVE YOU.

There were some unusual themes in the President's speech that if instituted might result in quantum changes in the Middle East. His message to Iran was conciliatory and much to Israeli discomfort, he mentioned a nuclear-free Middle East; implicitly, this proposition called for no Israeli nucs too. His call for no new Israeli settlements stuck a finger in the Israeli eye and undermines the current Likud Israeli campaign promises. Further, Obama's call for a separate Palestine state is enough to cause the current Israeli regime to have a stroke.

Republican House Minority Leader Boehner dutifully assisted Israel by condemning Obama's speech for his position on Iran and the Israeli. Pro Israeli NEW YORK TIMES tried to argue that GW Bush had unofficially green-lighted continued settlements; it had to admit, however, that there was nothing in writing. Best the paper could report was that American Jew, Elliot Abrams, member of the Holocaust Committee, reported that he understood such an arrangement existed. With his troubled legal history, who believes him on anything?

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has promised to deliver a speech soon. This will provide the American Jewish Lobby its marching orders. Israeli settlers are already building shacks calling them Obama Huts. So expect a full-court press against Obama's proposition. My sense is that Obama's knees will buckle in the face of pressure. Israelis will produce a political knife fight over the issue; it will be too messy for Obama who will find a reason to back down.

On Obama's previous European trip he committed to 108 billion dollars to the International Monetary Fund. Now is time to pay up. The US Senate has attached a 108 billion appropriation to a 96 billion supplemental war bill. Republicans are fairly asking: Is the US borrowing from China to give money to IMF so it can lend it? The dollar is worth less than 60 cents versus the Euro as of today. The whole thing is fiscal insanity. You may want your dentist to cap your teeth with gold to protect your net worth and make it portable.

As reality closes in on Obama, the more he appears driven to speech making. The more speeches, the less his accomplishments. That is a correlation for disaster. His economic programs are faltering. Unemployment figures are staggering. Federal debts are met with printing more money or funds from China. His stock market is pumped up artificially by statements from his three stooges economic team of Summers, Geithner and Bernarke. His war strategy is failed Nixonian: PEACE WITH HONOR.

Alternatives? None. The Republicans hopelessly are goofier than ever – squealing over Socialism started by GW Bush and still Crazy for Christ. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret

Obama, Jews, & The Promised Land

After the wall came down, I visited Berlin. During a taxi tour of East Berlin, the German driver pointed out to me the site for the new US embassy. He then added with a thin smile: “It will be adjacent to the proposed Holocaust Memorial”. Years later the memorial has been built; the US Embassy sits on its north side.

This close proximity of the two installations may be a metaphor for US/Israel relations. Over the years these links have become more entangled; more fused. Whether this situation projects US National Security interests or damages them, appears under review in the Obama Administration.

American Jews voted loyally for Obama. Members donated generously to his campaign. Their celebrities in the entertainment world spoke at political rallies. Jewish supporters and gentiles such as the Clintons, expended a major effort for Obama, mainly focused in Florida.

About the only group of Jews opposed to Obama were the Neocons led by Senator Lieberman who wanted the war in Iraq to continue with US troops stationed there permanently. Both Bomb Bomb McCain and Giuliani also had principal Jewish American national security advisors. These Neocon advisors advocated permanent war. As a result, some American and Israeli Jews argue smugly that they have a serious political influence in both parties. Based on the evidence, who can challenge this conclusion?

Jews represent 1.7% of the US population of which 78% voted for Obama. That was up from 60% that voted for Kerry four years previously. Despite this high percentage that vote Democratic, they are a diverse group – secular and non-secular and from different tribes, some asiatic or north African or European. Intermarriage with non jews dilutes their homogeneity, but nearly all fervently unite on the survival of Israel as a nation.

This fixation brings into question their loyalty, especially those Jews who have dual citizenship. Are they American Israelis or Israeli Americans? The foreign policy goals of both countries are different and in some cases clash.

Evidence of this is apparent in Israeli conduct over the years. In 1967 the Israelis repeatedly attacked an unarmed US Navy research ship the USS Liberty in international waters near Israel. Rockets, bombs and napalm hit the ship launched from Israeli aircraft; Israeli torpedo boats hit the ship from the sea. Thirty four US sailors were killed and 171 were wounded. Israel paid about 7 million to compensate their families. This attack remains as the only serous maritime incident that was never investigated by Congress.

One explanation that dramatizes the effort of American Jews to influence policy is an example provided by John Gunther Dean a former American Ambassador to Lebanon, Denmark, India and Thailand. J. G. Dean is a Jew born in Germany who had relatives murdered by the Nazis; he became a US citizen and rose quickly in the US State Department. In his memoirs, DANGER ZONE, he explains how he was besieged by American Jewish congressman, lobbyists and Israeli operatives to influence policies favorable to Israel. Their argument centered on the Zionist appeal for unity and loyalty to the Jewish tribes. Dean is convinced he was a target for assassination.

Israel engages in massive espionage operations against the US. For its extent and details Google ISRAELI SPYS USA. The latest outrageous cover up was the recent dropping of espionage charges against two Jewish American members of AIPAC, a major Jewish lobby in USA. We know Jewish American Congresswoman Harmon was involved, pressuring the US Justice Department.

An interesting detail that came out was that Condoleezza was to be involved by defense lawyers; that they intended to call her to the stand, because she used APAC to communicate directly with Israel. Why would she circumvent the State Department’s discreet backchannel communication to Israel is unknown. One reason is that there is no US documentation of the communication. This should be investigated as it casts continued suspicion on the affair. But we know the US Congress does not investigate Israel.

Another wing of the Israeli support system in America is the so-called Zionist Christian Evangelists. These Americans have established links with Israel investing in religious facilities in Israel. This sect is fixated by the final battle between the forces of good and evil at Armageddon

I witnessed a preacher on TV from the group. He wore a blue suit, had the slick appearance of a reborn Vincent Price and spoke from Israel. He appealed for donations by offering a silver-plated shofar (Hebrew ceremonial rams horn pipe blown at Jewish rituals) for 1,000 dollar contributions. Guess that is better than gold-plated circumcision instruments. While many dismiss the group as another pack of religious crackpots, Israel does not. On the same TV show the freshly minted Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu personally thanked the zealots for their support.

Obama has been inclusive with American Jews. In his White house staff, Axelrod is his long-time friend and closest political advisor. Emanuel is the most powerful as his chief of staff. The President has honored Hebrew traditions with a Seder at the White House. In a few weeks he plans to visit a Holocaust site near Buchenwald.

President Obama became involved in the Arab/Israeli conflict while he was still in his transition period, before his inauguration. Israel was bombing Gaza and striking on the ground in retaliation for rocket attacks from Gaza. By any civilized standard, it was an over reaction by the Israelis. GW Bush, as he did in the most recent bombing of Lebanon, stood by and blocked any International ceasefire.

Uncertain how he did it, but Obama, though not yet president, is given credit for the ceasefire. By that time, 1400 Arabs were dead, many more wounded and the city destroyed. More than 800 of the Arabs killed were women and children while Israelis lost less than six people; it was a slaughter not a victory. Israelis used mainly US military equipment and ordnance in the operations.

After the election of Obama, a left winger, the Israelis elected right winger Bibi Netanyahu as Prime Minister. Bibi had been out of power for about 10 years; he has an aggressive reputation of shoot first and ask questions later. He and his Likud party are kindred souls of the US Neocons. So there is an awkward historical irony of an American left-wing president having to do business with an Israeli right-wing leader

Netanyahu and Obama's face-to-face meeting occurred in Washington a few weeks ago. There was a clash of policies between the two countries. Previously, Obama had sent his CIA Director, Panetta, to Israel to warn them not to be stupid and bomb Iran.

There are sharp differences between Bibi and Obama other than bombing Iran, i.e.: division of Jerusalem, return of Lebanese land, right of Arabs to return to their land, Golan heights, two-state solution, unrestricted travel of Arabs on their lands and halting settlements on Arab lands. Obama has already drawn a line in the sand on the settlement issue: told them to stop and the Israelis have refused. Some of the Israeli leadership called Obama a pharoah over this issue.(FYI, last time a big time American politician was called a pharoah was the legendary mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daley; Obama may be flattered and accept the intended insult, smiling graciously.)

Obama has leverage on Israel. First, Israel without the US cannot survive long term. The US provides diplomatic support and an estimated 4 billion in aid plus loan guarantees for building construction. With much of the aid Israel buys weapons from the US – so some money is recycled to the US for military ordnance and manufactured military equipment. Whether Obama has the political courage to use his leverage is another question, which will soon be determined.

As far as Israel being the only Democracy in the area... How can a theocratic state with officially one religion be democratic? Ask an Arab muslim living under Israeli law about that. You will get another take.

At one time one could argue that Israel was strategically important to the US. With the existence of the USSR and its wars of national liberation, the US support was an acceptable counterpoise. With the end of the Soviet threat, Israel's strategic importance has diminished. If the US needs to stage from the Middle East, there is always Kuwait even if the US presence is curtailed in Iraq. Every time an Israeli kills an Arab with a US weapon, the US pays a price in its ability to influence the situation; it makes more enemies for America in the Islamic world. Blank check support of Israel by the US now is out of habit, not national security interest.

Though the longitude and the latitude are wrong according to Hebrew prophets, the US is their Promised Land. The Jews tried to find it historically in Spain, Germany, Poland and Central Asia; their flourishing communities were rejected – in most cases in a bloody fashion. The beleaguered state of Israel is a warrior state bound to perish unless its leadership finds another path. Until then, the US will continued to be its Promised Land, only if as a minority it does not over reach and rile the majority. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret

Photograph: Poster Wake Up America by James Montgomery Flagg

The Cowardly vs. The Craven
Cheney & the Democratic Congress

US Main Stream Media just had one of those perfect storm moments with its contrived coverage of former VEEP Cheney and President Obama's almost concurrent address a few days ago. While Cheney, defending torture, concentrated on the defense of his administration’s failed national security policy, Obama focused on his problems closing Guantanamo. The issues were different, but that was dismissed or intentionally overlooked by a media hell bent on making the facts fit a sensationally contorted story line.

I characterize Cheney as a coward because he dodged the Vietnam draft with five deferments while nearly 60,000 of his fellow citizens died in action. I call the members of Congress craven for not voting for funds to dismantle the Guantanamo prison which is clearly in the US interest.

Creepy as it is, Cheney's media blitz has involved his daughter and his wife, using them to justify his actions in office. When analyzing his post election driven conduct, one can assume, given his previous efforts to avoid military service, it is not based on patriotism. So what motivates his frenzy?

His speech opposite Obama's was given at the American Enterprise Institute, a place that harbors and spawns the discredited Neocons. So ideologically, he retreated into the womb of his beliefs. This probably imparted a sense of security, much as a rat dashes for his hole. His Neocon pals were unlikely to throw their Gucci loafers at him; instead, given the audience's pro Israel fixation, if vexed, probably would toss less damaging kosher dill pickles to demonstrate their opposition.

It is understood that Cheney's ubiquitous appearances involve a post de facto defense of Bush policies and effort to avoid investigation and possible prosecution for his role in it. More likely it involves keeping his public flame burning to enhance his demands for a two million dollar advance on a book he plans to write. Republicans have an established record for greed.

Beached Republicans Rove, Condoleezza, Rumsfeld, Matalin, Paulsen, George and Laura all are engaged in book authorship as if this process will provide expiation for their misrule. So that they not fall into despair, there is always room for these Republican misfits at FOX NEWs. If they believe tell-all books will burnish their legacy, they are mistaken; the Sunnis, Kurds, and Shiites in Iraq plus the Taliban and al Qaeda Arabs in Afghanistan/Pakistan will write the final chapter on the GW Bush Administration.

John Milton’s 17th century quotation, A good book is the precious life blood of a master spirit... did not anticipate these scurrilous Republicans who attempt to fend off obscurity by reinventing themselves.

Obama's own Democratic Congress stuck it to him when it stripped out a request of roughly 80 million for closing down Guantanamo out of a 91 billion war supplemental budget. Ostensibly, the Democrats claimed they needed a detailed plan to determine how the money would be spent. The fact that the Congress just robotically authorized 91 billion for war without the foggiest idea of the detailed expenditures, makes this argument absurd.

Backed into a corner, the Democrats fell back to the position that claimed their constituents were frightened by the prospect of releasing terrorists into US zone of the interior. This was equally bogus; there was no chance these prisoners could escape from max security US prisons. The we want torture Republicans grabbed on to this and mounted a campaign to keep Guantanamo open, to politically embarrass Obama and justify Bush's building of the Caribbean concentration camp.

There has to be a better justification for a Democratic Congress to intentionally make Obama look weak. My sense is that it goes to friction between the White House and the Democratic Congress. If Obama was blindsided by the vote, he should blame his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel, self-important and self-absorbed, is also arrogant and a weak link in Obama's White House Staff. It is his duty to make certain legislative relations are sound and the White House is never caught by surprise.

The Democratic vote against the funds was craven, at the least based on the two official reasons provided. So my fellow Americans, take your choice between frightened Democrats or avaricious Republicans to rule you. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret

FYI: Sister Sarah Palin has a book contract on her exploits and unregulated motherhood to be written by a phantom; her side kick, Joe the Plumber, already wrote one no one read. Alas, we have two more candidates for the Republican literary hall of fame.

On US Military Leadership 2009 – Reflections

Concurrent with the tragic announcement of the murder of five soldiers by their comrade in arms in Baghdad was the shocking statistic that 20% of the 4200 plus US killed in Iraq was not due to enemy action. These roughly eight hundred troops died in accidents, suicide, friendly fire, or were murdered by someone other than the enemy. This situation usually indicates an organizational malaise with the smell of disintegration that occurs when weak military leadership is found at all levels.

Each military leader, whether a corporal or a general, has his own idiosyncratic leadership style that is rooted in his personality, but in military units there are three concepts that are immutable if you expect to lead men under fire: KNOW YOUR MEN – LOYALTY WORKS BOTH WAYS – NO EXCUSE SIR. So let us examine how these 20th century principles have worked at least in the wars that begin in the 21st century.

KNOW YOUR MEN. The military organization reflects the society from which it springs. My observation of the age groups that provide the military manpower is that it is stressed out. This is well before its members are part of a military unit. The reason for it is unclear, but it is a factor that the military establishment must face today when building units and fighting wars.

I was first inadvertently alerted to this so called generation stress factor by my nephew who was a full scholarship student at Cooper-Hewitt college in NYC. He was a computer wizard who hooked himself part time into a Wall Street firm as a trouble shooter. When in NYC, I took him to dinner where he would order Johnny Walker Black scotch, best steak and wine on the menu, and polished it off with a brandy snifter of Remy Martin. It appeared the young man liked living large.

He was maintaining high grades in school while at the same time, making thousands of dollars every week moonlighting. I admired his spunk, dash and audacity, so it stunned me when upon graduation, he packed up, departed NYC and rejected big-money, Wall Street offers.

He ended up in California with a mediocre job. When I finally asked him WTF happened, he said could not stand the stress. Later I learned that this behavior was common in this generation – a generation that prefers to live at home with Mom and Pop after graduation or receiving degrees. Apart from financial considerations, in many cases this reflects insecurity and lack of self confidence to face the world – the generation just cannot cut the apron strings. Admittedly, times have changed.

So it is, that there exist variations of these souls from which the military must forge the forces. Combine this with back-to-back tours in combat zones; the inability to maintain unit integrity by constant unit rotation; the sharp lowering of educational and conduct standards for enlistments; and, you have relentless leadership challenges not apparent in the 20th century.

Solutions are to raise enlistment standards and broaden the man power pool with compulsory service. Or just avoid fighting foolish wars and rest the forces.

LOYALTY WORKS BOTH WAYS. A commander cannot expect loyalty unless he is loyal to his troops. He must demonstrate that he is genuinely interested in the welfare of his men. This means he insures they are well equipped, fed and trained. He must strictly punish the guilty and reward the performers. And he must stick his neck out for his unit when ill-conceived orders are received (doubt you will find this in the leadership training manuel, but anyone who has served in combat knows this is important). Executing flawed orders robotically has killed a lot of brave men historically. e.g. the English light cavalry at Balaclava in the Crimean War, Australians at Gallipoli and German soldiers at Stalingrad in WWII.

Under US military leadership, the war plans for the invasion of Iraq were flawed; too few troops employed opened the country to looting; and, Saddam's ammunition dumps were left unguarded for nearly a year after the invasion and were used by insurgents to rearm and build bombs. Failure to use the Iraq Army and the members of the Baath party in the occupation proved disastrous. Billions of dollars in cash still remain unaccounted.

We know the troops went to war in Iraq without effective body and vehicle armor. As the war went on, lieutenants refused to accept promotions to captain even with 20 thousand dollar bonuses, because they had problems with the integrity of field grade and general officer leadership.

The Abu Gahrib atrocities clearly demonstrated a break down of the chain of command with only a few low-grade enlisted soldiers punished for the crimes. The Army covered up the friendly fire death of ranger Pat Tillman which promoted expediency over honesty. Generals who failed in the field were promoted and given awards. These were just the more apparent facts that eroded troop confidence in their leaders.

Finally it has recently been confirmed that many retired flag officers pimped for the Pentagon, even using issued Defense Department talking points, on the TV networks, promoting pro-war propaganda. It is known that some of same fellas sold out to military contractors using Pentagon connections to promote sales of weapons, private security firms and war goods and supplies. There is even evidence that their compensation would be determined by the length of the wars.

Pulitzer prize winning investigative journalist David Barstow spells it all out in his recently published article in the NYTimes: BEHIND TV ANALYSTS, PENTAGON’S HIDDEN HAND... He names names and provides details.

It was no surprise that many of these high ranking officers were graduates of national service academies. If they are part of the proud Long Grey Line, an asterisk should be placed by their name denoting their sleazy conduct and squalid greed. One suggested footnote is: This United States Military Academy graduate sold his heritage for a mess of pottage.

Net result of these combined factors is to have cast a cynical gloom over the ranks in the field. It has to drive out many patriotically motivated. It has to have a corrosive affect on the military establishment at large.

NO EXCUSE, SIR. The soldier who killed five other soldiers had been tagged with mental problems by the command, disarmed and subsequently escorted to a mental counseling station. He was asked to leave the clinic when he became unruly. He returned to the facility with a weapon that he forcefully took from his escort and committed murder.

You can argue the command acted correctly in accordance to procedures. So What? Five men are pointlessly dead under its nose... under its trust. Rumsfeld's stuff happens may work for civilians as an excuse, but not in military organizations where the society and environment are controlled. Military units are charged with making stuff happen.

Why did it happen? NO EXCUSE, SIR. People involved in the chain of command should be relieved of duty. The traditional rule embedded in command authority, is that the commander is responsible for what his men do or fail to do, and it should be operative in the 21st century... or is it? After only minor disciplinary action occurred from the massive command failure at Abu Gahrib and the cover up in the Tillman case, you must wonder whether this 20th century military ethos is still in effect.

The military profession is not for choir boys. War is organized chaos, but even in the thick of it you still need rules. If there are new 21st century rules, what are they? Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.

* Picture: Painting Friedland, 1807 by Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier