01/29/24

Why This Iran Funded And Authorized Terror Attack Is Different

We are faced with an escalation in the Middle East situation wherein an Iranian backed terror group attacked a US military facility in Jordan (a moderate Sunni Arab country allied with the US) with missiles resulting in 3 KIA and 3 dozen WIA.

President Biden and his crack team are considering how to respond and one of the considerations is a response that is more Iran centric.

Bravo! Continue reading

07/13/20

Bounty Killings and Rewards for Justice

So, I’m reading some spurious nonsense that the Russians are paying the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan — where we have been for two decades. Good God do we need to get TF out of A’stan. If the generals can’t figure it out in 20 years, let’s get some new generals and come home.

Pardon me.

I’m not sure why anyone is surprised by this — the reward program. I imagine it is true in some form.

Know who pays similar bounties? The United States of America.

This action was authorized by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism. The program is called REWARDS FOR JUSTICE and is administered by the US State Department Diplomatic Security Service.

To date, Rewards for Justice has paid out more than $150,000,000 to more than 100 persons who provided information that:

 1. Led to the arrest or conviction of persons who planned, committed, aided, or attempted international terrorist acts against US persons or property;

 2. Prevented such acts from occurring;

 3. Led to the identification or location of a key terrorist leader;

 4. Disrupted terrorism financing.

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06/2/20

Antifa — Strategy And Tactics

Today, we find our streets filled with a much better tactical terror unit in the modern version of Antifa. They have dramatically improved their game in the last five years.

It is time to see Antifa for what they are — a well organized street gang that employs violence as a primary and first use core value to achieve their self-proclaimed political mission. They are, indeed, a domestic terror organization.

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01/5/20

The Trump Doctrine

Every President in modern times has created a National Security Strategy which encapsulates the foreign policy views of an administration and alerts the world to understand the attitude of an administration to them and their relationship with the United States.

This codification is often created by the press of real world issues at the time. It is often communicated during a State of the Union speech and it provides a guiding light for the White House, State Department, the Department of Defense, and the Congress.

The Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine is the granddaddy of all “doctrines” which was spoken for the first time in President James Monroe’s seventh State of the Union Address to Congress in December 1823.

It held the following guidance:

 1. The New World and the Old World were to be considered as two very different spheres of influence.

 2. Any European nation that attempted to quash the independence movements of its Latin American or South American colonies (talking to you, Portugal and Spain) would be viewed as having taken an “. . . unfriendly disposition toward the United States.”

 3. It further stated that European nations that adhered to the Monroe Doctrine could rest assured that the United States would not interfere in their internal affairs in Europe.

 4. The Monroe Doctrine was not called the Monroe Doctrine until 1850, but it was embraced as the policy of the United States for more than a century and influenced the administrations of Ulysses S Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, John F Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.

Not every administration from Monroe to the present had challenges in Latin or South America related to European colonial expansion, so the Monroe Doctrine was more important or less important to different administrations based on their current foreign affairs challenges. Today, it is not particularly relevant as there is no real European colonial kerfuffle in Latin America or South America though it is often invoked when talking about Russian or Chinese influence in places like Nicaragua or Venezuela.

I give you this background as I want to set the table to discuss what is an emerging Trump Doctrine applying to the Middle East and terrorism.

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01/5/20

Poking The Iranian Bear

Good friend of mine sends me an email, says, “Hey, amigo, you know all that military crap. Are we going to get slapped around by Iran? Poke the sleeping bear meme real? Are all the baristas at Starbucks going to get drafted?”

I laughed, called him, and said, “Where do you get this crap? Let me lay some facts on you.”

If the Iranians decide to retaliate for the US’s hit on Soleimani, the confrontation will likely degenerate into an air campaign from the American side.

Why? We don’t want to put ground troops into Iran. Make sense?

The Iranian Air Force

The Iranian Air Force has the following mixed bag of combat aircraft:

Russian MiG 29 multirole (fighter/bomber) aircraft — 20

Russian Su-17/20/22 attack aircraft — 10

Russian Su-24 attack aircraft — 23

US F-4 Phantom II fighter bomber aircraft — 63 (16 unarmed, recon only)

US F-5E fighter aircraft — 20 (includes some reverse engineered derivatives)

US F-14A/AM Tomcat fighter interceptor aircraft — 26

French Mirage F1 fighter aircraft — 9 (from Iraq when fleeing Desert Storm)

Iranian HESA Kowsar fighter aircraft — 7 (good avionics based on F-5 airframe)

Chinese F-7 fighter aircraft — 17 (built by Iran under license from China based on MiG-21)

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01/3/20

Authorization For The Use Of Military Force

I agree with the decision to kill Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, the commanding general of Iran’s Quds and the overseer of their proxy terror network. He was a ruthless, vicious murderer who ran the Iranian operations — in particular bomb making — for more than 40 years. He was bathed in blood and responsible for the death of thousands, including thousands of Americans.

It is regrettable that this action occurred on the sovereign territory of Iraq, but that is like arguing the merits of a drone rocket v an airplane bomb. We must go where the targets go. [BTW, nice intel get by whoever fingered Suleimani’s whereabouts and travel plans. This is good battlefield intel. Bravo.]

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09/11/19

America Under Attack — 11 September 2001

NEVER FORGET

On September 11, 2001 the War on Terror became real for America when we were attacked by nineteen terrorists who killed more than 3,000 innocent victims at the World Trade Towers, the Pentagon, and in a field in Pennsylvania.

The tide of patriotism that rose in its wake was sufficient to quench the fires of terror and launch an effort that resulted in taking the fight to the enemy in the Middle East. There has not been a terror attack on American soil of such magnitude since 9-11.

This did not happen by accident.

In the original attack and in the subsequent wars, places like the Virginia Military Institute sent its graduates to fight. VMI lost fifteen men who made the ultimate sacrifice in the War on Terror. They were mothers’ and fathers’ sons, brothers, husbands, friends, and Brother Rats. They were and are VMI men.

VMI exists to produce such men and women, citizen-soldiers willing to go in harm’s way when our Nation calls.

This is what the price tag for freedom looks like when you go to a school like VMI, from whence the leaders come to fight America’s wars.

Today, I honor every person who has been impacted by this unprovoked, cowardly act. I honor these VMI men, our best. Look into their eyes and recognize the sacrifice they made for us, me, you.

Rest in peace, good and faithful warriors, VMI graduates. You answered America’s call; you did your duty; you defended freedom; you delivered on the sacred promise that is VMI.

A grateful Nation mourns your loss and honors your sacrifice. RVM

NEVER FORGET

 

05/19/17

Goya Foods — Corporate Giant

“If it’s Goya, it has to be good!”

Big Red Car here on a grayish day, y’all. Throwing a curve in your direction.

You probably know who Goya Foods is — the largest Latin cuisine grocery in the US.

Goya logo

They have been sponsors of the New York City Puerto Rico Parade for sixty years, starting in 1958. Other sponsors include Coca-Cola, the New York Yankees, AT&T.

But, Goya Foods pulled their sponsorship this year because the parade will honor a terrorist.

Good for Goya!

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