Tag Archives: American troops

Poking the Bear

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Article: : R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.

Since the end of WWII, the United States and Russia, the world’s nuclear super powers, have avoided direct armed conflict. This may be about to change. Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO and part of which has historically been linked to Russia, is losing the war of attrition started by its much larger neighbor, Russia. This, in spite of the billions of dollars of American taxpayer’s money and diminishing stockpile of our weapons being sent to Ukraine. We are not replenishing these weapons at the necessary rate. Now we have their leader, Zelenskyy, persuading the Biden/Harris regime to escalate the war by allowing American made missiles to be fired deep inside Russia. This will not end well and must be stopped.

History shows repeatedly that wars once started take on a life of their own and frequently spin out of control. The time to stop a war is before it starts. The perceived weak Biden/Harris regime failed to do this. Now, Zelenskyy is desperate and sees the only path forward is to involve the United States more directly in the conflict. Sending American troops to Ukraine will be next. The missiles in question can reach 300 miles into Russia. Let’s face reality. Putin will never allow Russia to be defeated by Ukraine. Will he use tactical nuclear missiles to keep from losing the war? He says he will. No one knows for sure. If so, the next question becomes, “How would the Biden/Harris regime respond?” The hypocrisy of Biden/Harris is obvious when they put total pressure on trying to get Israel to agree to a cease fire, but no such pressure is placed on Ukraine to negotiate with Russia. How would we respond, if we got into a war with Cuba, and Russian supplied missiles were striking deep into the southern United States? Zelenskyy’s hope that he can persuade us to escalate and get more involved against Russia keeps this war going which is actually destroying Ukraine.

Not only do we risk a war of global annihilation with Russia, we are increasingly pushing Russia closer to China, who is our actual existential threat. We are weakening our military by using armaments at a pace faster than we can replace them. The missiles in question are considered essential to our defense and cost $1.5 million each. China is watching and elated by what is occurring. They get stronger, we get weaker. How will we respond if Taiwan is attacked by China? Good question.

What is needed is a negotiated settlement that concedes some of Ukraine to Russia. Just like what happened in Korea. The cease fire there, gave the northern part to the communists but preserved the south as a free country. And remember, China was not a nuclear power at that time but it was recognized that a compromise was necessary to stop the war and preserve at least part of Korea from communism.

We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into an escalating war that is not in our interest and the consequences could be total destruction of our civilization as we know it. I do not want our existence to be dependent on the decision of one man, Putin, who is being pushed into a corner. Not a good idea. We need an exit strategy and need it fast. The Biden/Harris regime is not up to the task. Consider this when you cast your vote. Who is most likely to resolve this situation favorably for the American people?

You Might Not Have Heard This

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A friend of mine sent me an email that included the following story:

Subject: Army Navy football
There are still some great people who know why we are a free country, and who ensures we remain so!
    The Best Christmas Story You “Never” Heard
Here’s a ‘today’ Yule story that occurred 3 weeks ago – and now, in time for the holidays, I bring you the best Christmas story you “never” heard.
It started last Christmas, when Bennett and Vivian Levin were overwhelmed by sadness while listening to radio reports of injured American troops.   “We have to let them know we care,” Vivian told Bennett.
So they organized a trip to bring soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital to the annual Army-Navy football game in Philly, on December 3, 2019.
The cool part is, they created their own train line to do it.   Yes, there are people in this country who actually own real trains and Bennett Levin, a native Philly guy and a self-made millionaire is one of them.
He has three luxury rail cars.   Think mahogany paneling, plush seating and white-linen dining areas.   He also has two locomotives, which he stores at his Juniata Park train yard.   One car, the elegant Pennsylvania, carried John F. Kennedy to the Army-Navy game in 1961 and ’62.   Later, it carried his brother Bobby’s body to D.C. for burial.   “That’s a lot of history for one car,” says Bennett.
He and Vivian wanted to revive a tradition that endured from 1936 to 1975, during which trains carried Army-Navy spectators from around the country directly to the stadium where the annual game is played.  The Levins could think of no better passengers to reinstate the ceremonial ride than the wounded men and women recovering at Walter Reed in D.C. and Bethesda, in Maryland.
“We wanted to give them a first-class experience,” says Bennett.   “Gourmet meals on board, private transportation from the train to the stadium, perfect seats – real hero treatment.”
Through the Army War College Foundation, of which he is a trustee, Bennett met with Walter Reed’s commanding general, who loved the idea.   But Bennett had some ground rules first, all designed to keep the focus on the troops alone:
No press on the trip, lest the soldiers’ day of pampering devolve into a media circus.
No politicians either, because, says Bennett, “I didn’t want some idiot making this
trip into a campaign photo op” and no Pentagon suits on board, otherwise the
soldiers would be too busy saluting superiors to relax.
The general agreed to the conditions, and Bennett realized he had a problem on his hands.   “I had to actually make this thing happen,” he laughs.
Over the next months, he recruited owners of 15 other sumptuous rail cars from around the country into lending their vehicles for the day (these people tend to know each other).
The name of their temporary train?   The Liberty Limited.
Amtrak volunteered to transport the cars to D.C. – where they’d be coupled together for the round-trip ride to Philly – then back to their owners later.
Conrail offered to service the Liberty while it was in Philly.   And SEPTA drivers would bus the disabled soldiers 200 yards from the train to Lincoln Financial Field, for the game.
A benefactor from the War College ponied up 100 seats to the game – on the 50-yard line – and lunch in a hospitality suite.
And corporate donors filled, for free and without asking for publicity, goodie bags for attendees:
From Woolrich, stadium blankets,
From Wal-Mart, digital cameras,
From Nikon, field glasses, and
From GEAR, down jackets.
There was booty not just for the soldiers, but for their guests, too, since each was allowed to bring a friend or family member.
The Marines, though, declined the offer.   “They voted not to take guests with them, so they could take more Marines,” says Levin, choking up at the memory.
Bennett’s an emotional guy, so he was worried about how he’d react to meeting the 88 troops and guests at D.C.’s Union Station, where the trip originated.   Some GIs were missing limbs.
Others were wheelchair-bound or accompanied by medical personnel for the day.   “They made it easy to be with them,” he says.   “They were all smiles on the ride to Philly.   Not an ounce of self-pity from any of them.   They’re so full of life and determination.”
At the stadium, the troops reveled in the game, recalls Bennett.   Not even Army’s lopsided loss to Navy could deflate the group’s rollicking mood.
Afterward, it was back to the train and yet another gourmet meal – heroes get hungry, says Levin – before returning to Walter Reed and Bethesda.   “The day was spectacular,” says Levin.
It was all about these kids.   It was awesome to be part of it.”
The most poignant moment for the Levins was when 11 Marines hugged them goodbye, then sang them the Marine Hymn on the platform at Union Station.
“One of the guys was blind, but he said, ‘I can’t see you, but man, you must be beautiful!’ ” says Bennett.   “I got a lump so big in my throat, I couldn’t even answer him.”
It’s been three weeks, but the Levins and their guests are still feeling the day’s love.   “My Christmas came early,” says Levin, who is Jewish and who loves the Christmas season.
“I can’t describe the feeling in the air.”   Maybe it was hope.
As one guest wrote in a thank-you note to Bennett and Vivian, “The fond memories generated last Saturday will sustain us all – whatever the future may bring.”
God bless the Levins … and God bless the troops, every single one.

Knowing Who Your Friends Are

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There will be an attempt to impeach President Trump within the next few months. It will happen as soon as the Democrats can actually come up with some sort of charges. However, the ground work is currently being laid–in the Senate. Mitch McConnell has lined up the Senators he will need by undermining the President’s decision to pull many of our troops out of the Middle East. Pay attention to which Senators voted to undermine the President in taking troops out of the Middle East. Those are the Senators who will be called upon to vote for impeachment. Also, note that a lot of people make money when our troops are overseas. Those are the people making large campaign contributions to those opposing the President.

Below is a video of Rand Paul’s response to the bill:

Stellasplace1 posted the following this morning:

The Senate passed an amendment yesterday demanding that President Trump keep American troops actively engaged in war in the Middle East. The cloture vote in favor was 68-23, which includes 43 Republicans. Think of it. Most of our Republican Senators are in favor of continuing USA war presence in Afghanistan and Syria. Why?

It finally passed by a majority of 70 to 26 — opposed by only three of the 53 Senate Republicans. According to AFP/Yahoo News, the amendment will eventually be incorporated into a broader security law on the Middle East.

The Senate finally flexes their muscles and who do they attack? The President of their own party. It seems to me that if the Senate disagrees with President Trump and wants US forces to remain in Afghanistan and Syria, why don’t they just formally declare war?

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of the deep state’s nuclear attempt to get President Trump out of office before America realizes that he is actually accomplishing things that are making their lives better.

Funding Terrorism Because You Don’t Think You Will Get Caught

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Iran is known to be one of the major suppliers for weapons and terrorists around the world. The IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices) American troops encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan generally originated in Iran. This is not a country that we want to give a lot of money to–the  money doesn’t go to the people–it goes to the military and to fund terrorism. So what in the world was President Obama thinking when he made a deal with Iran that gave them a boatload of money? It gets worse.

The Washington Times posted an article today about an attempt by President Obama to give Tehran access to American banks to convert the large amount of money Iran received after the nuclear agreement into American dollars.

The article reports:

The Obama administration — despite repeatedly assuring Congress that Iran would remain barred from the U.S. financial system — secretly mobilized to give Tehran access to American banks to convert the windfall of cash it received from sanctions relief under the 2015 nuclear deal into dollars, an investigative report by the Senate has revealed.

A copy of the report, obtained by The Washington Times, outlines how Obama-era State and Treasury Department officials discreetly issued a special license for the conversion to a major Omani bank and unsuccessfully pressured two U.S. banks to partake in the transaction, all while misleading lawmakers about the activities.

The document, compiled by the Senate’s Republican-led chief investigative subcommittee, began circulating Tuesday, just as the Trump administration issued its harshest warnings to date to foreign governments and companies to avoid doing business with Iran or find themselves in the crosshairs of Washington’s reimposition of sanctions as part of Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

The article explains that Congress was not informed of what was going on–in fact they were lied to:

The Senate Homeland Security Committee’s permanent subcommittee on investigations probe contends that the Obama administration went out of its way to keep U.S. lawmakers in the dark about calculated and secretive efforts to give Tehran a back channel to the international financial system and to U.S. banks, facilitating a massive U.S. currency conversion worth billions of dollars.

“Senior U.S. government officials repeatedly testified to Congress that Iranian access to the U.S. financial system was not on the table or part of any deal,” according to a draft copy of the document obtained by The Times. “Despite these claims, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, at the direction of the U.S. State Department, granted a specific license that authorized a conversion of Iranian assets worth billions of U.S. dollars using the U.S. financial system.

“Even after the specific license was issued, U.S. government officials maintained in congressional testimony that Iran would not be granted access to the U.S. financial system,” the report said.

The article concludes:

Mr. Portman said in a statement Tuesday night that “the Obama administration misled the American people and Congress because they were desperate to get a deal with Iran.”

“Despite claims both before and after the Iran deal was completed that the U.S. financial system would remain off limits, the Obama administration issued a specific license allowing Iran to convert billions of dollars in assets using the U.S. financial system,” Mr. Portman said. “The only reason this transaction wasn’t executed was because two U.S. banks refused, even though the administration asked them to help convert the money.”

Such sanctions, he added, “are a vital foreign policy tool, and the U.S. government should never work to actively undermine their enforcement or effectiveness.”

Thank God our banks had more integrity than President Obama.

This Is Not A Surprise

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The Washington Free Beacon is reporting today that Iran is using the money that it was paid as part of the Iranian nuclear deal to fund an unprecedented military buildup.

The article reports:

Iran is using the billions in cash resources provided under the landmark nuclear deal to engage in an unprecedented military buildup meant to transform the Islamic Republic’s fighting force into an “offensive” juggernaut, according to a largely unreported announcement by Iranian military leaders that has sparked concern among U.S. national security insiders and sources on Capitol Hill.

Iranian officials announced late last month that Iran’s defense budget had increased by 145 percent under President Hassan Rouhani and that the military is moving forward with a massive restructuring effort aimed at making it “a forward moving force,” according to regional reports.

Iranian leaders have stated since the Iran deal was enacted that they are using the massive amounts of cash released under the agreement to fund the purchase of new military equipment and other armaments. Iran also has pursued multi-million dollar arms deals with Russia since economic sanctions were nixed as part of the deal.

Iran is not our friend and has been funding weapons used against American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since American troops got there. We need to remember that the goal of Iran is to establish a caliphate with Iran in charge. Iran is currently working with Russia to support the current regime in Syria and is working to fight ISIS. ISIS also wants to set up a caliphate. The difference is Sunni and Shiite. ISIS is the remnants of the Baathist regime that ruled Iraq with Saddam Hussein, Sunni Muslims. Iran is Shiite Muslim.  A caliphate set up by either group would be ruled by a brutal regime according to Sharia Law–women would be second-class citizens, homosexuals would be killed, and freedom of religion would not be allowed. The establishment of that caliphate by Iran is what the large amounts of cash given to Iran by the Obama Administration will be used to attempt.

The article concludes:

One senior congressional source tracking the matter expressed concern about the safety of U.S. forces in the region, which already are routinely harassed by Iranian military personnel.

“This is certainly grounds for concern,” the source said. “An Iranian military buildup coupled with an offensive posture is a threat to the United States and our allies. This also serves as an important reminder of why the Obama administration’s cash infusion to Iran was so dangerous.”

The cash windfall provided by the United States and European countries is “fungible and hence can be used for everything from sponsoring terror proxies to developing ballistic missiles,” the source warned. “Congress will continue to take action to counter Iranian terrorism and ensure this regime never acquires a nuclear weapon.”

Iran’s military announcement has already sparked a renewed push on Capitol Hill to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran.

“The Iranians know that the party will end this fall, when Congress will pass bipartisan legislation that begins to roll back Iran’s military growth,” one senior congressional adviser working on the sanctions effort told the Free Beacon.

“The Obama administration avoided any serious action for years, and so Iran kept growing its arsenal and using it against our allies, against Syrian civilians, and increasingly against our military,” said the source. “Now they’re rushing to accomplish as much as they can before Congress and the Trump administration get around to reversing Obama’s policies.”

Let’s hope Congress reverses this policy. They haven’t shown the spine yet to reverse much of anything. If Congress cannot reverse a policy that puts American soldiers at risk, then they should be made to put on uniforms to get a new perspective.