 |  |
 
October 2012
August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003
     |
 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! October 2, 2007 Phony Soldiers and OtherwiseBy GreyhawkSenate Plurality Leader Harry Reid voted against denouncing the Betray Us ad, in which a general that Reid voted to put into battle was smeared by MoveOn.Since we pretty much started the whole discussion here some time ago, I must say I'd enjoy seeing the Senate debate the entire story of Jesse MacBeth and his claims: ...according to Macbeth, his squad of Rangers gunned down Iraqis praying inside a mosque on a holy day, then hung some of the bodies from rafters, and defaced the mosque with graffiti. Macbeth's hand held the smoking gun, and his testimony in this interview shows clearly that the Marines who are now in trouble for very similar actions are not the exception to US tactics in Iraq, but represent only one in many incidents of war crimes[*].Those stories made MacBeth a welcome addition to team IVAW:  Of course, the reality is that MacBeth washed out of basic training, then pepetrated fraud in an attempt to gain VA benefits, moved on to launch his brief "I'm a war criminal" career, and found a welcome reception from the Iraq Veterans Against the War. That organization did find the courage to "issue a statement" after we exposed the poser. As I mentioned at the time, Note the gutless weasels don't refute MacBeth, just say that "questions have been raised". Nor do they actually expel him from their ranks - they just don't "in any way endorse" him.Anyhow, fast forward one year: A man who tried to position himself as a leader of the anti-war movement by claiming to have participated in war crimes while serving in Iraq is facing federal charges of falsifying his record.And last month... A Tacoma man who falsely claimed he was a decorated war hero when he took the stage at demonstrations held in opposition to the U.S.'s role in Iraq was sentenced this morning to five months in prison in U.S. District Court in Seattle.That's from the Seattle Times. The Eastern Arizona Courier adds that... In November 2003, while living in Pima, Macbeth interviewed with a Courier reporter and fabricated stories of combat injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and watching fellow soldiers die.If I were Rush Limbaugh, I'd join in Reid's call for intense Senatorial debate on this issue. I'd love to read in the Senate record exactly why Reid - who couldn't summon the outrage (or simple decency) to condemn MoveOn for attacking General Petraeus, is so outraged that Rush Limbaugh called MacBeth a "phony". Speaking of phonies, fake Vietnam combat vet Tom Harkin also quickly criticized Limbaugh for calling phony war criminal (but actual criminal) Jesse MacBeth a "phony soldier". HARKIN: I’ll just close, Mr. President, by noting that in August, seven soldiers published an op-ed in the New York Times criticizing the current strategy in Iraq. Tragically, two of those soldiers were subsequently killed in action, making the ultimate sacrifice for their country.I can understand why Harkin feels compelled to rush to the defense of a fellow fraudulent combat veteran (it's a "Band of Brothers" thing), but I'm not sure why he can only assume Limbaugh's condemnation of a phony soldier must also be applied to real ones. I wouldn't in a million years have equated MacBeth with real soldiers, but Harkin has. For the record, here's what I wrote in response to the NYT 7 (see "View from the Tunnel" at link), whose opinions I respect, and who are the real deal, and anything but phony. They did an excellent job in re-stating what virtually everyone here recognizes as the challenges we are confronting, though they fell a bit short in clarifying exactly how they feel we should resolve them (lack of clear consensus being a common product of group efforts). So I'd love to hear - for the record - various U.S. Senators announce whether they concur with the actual solutions somewhat vaguely implied in their editorial. Specifically, that although we could win this thing if Americans would stand back and let us unleash the required amount of carnage (in other words, if we could actually do what Jesse MacBeth and his IVAW pals accuse us of doing anyway)... While we have the will and the resources to fight in this context, we are effectively hamstrung because realities on the ground require measures we will always refuse — namely, the widespread use of lethal and brutal force....our reluctance to do so dictates that ...it would be prudent for us to increasingly let Iraqis take center stage in all matters, to come up with a nuanced policy in which we assist them from the margins but let them resolve their differences as they see fit.Which is pretty much what we're doing - the only difference I can discern from current policy being if they are advocating extension of "as they see fit" to slaughter of weaker elements in Iraqi society - but the authors are unclear on this point. Now that would be a worthy discussion among the members of the world's most prestigious elected body. Or the US Senate can pretend radio personality Rush Limbaugh attacked the messengers, express their complete and total outrage at that most egregious and imaginary affront, and avoid the issue altogether. Back to you, Tom and Harry. Footnotes: * …the Marines who are now in trouble for very similar actions are not the exception to US tactics in Iraq, but represent only one in many incidents of war crimes. - It's worth remembering that the original intended purpose of the MacBeth video was to lend additional weight to congressman Jack Murtha's then-current claims that Marines in Iraq were "cold blooded killers" who were slaughtering women and children... There is a current story in the US press about a squad of Marines that are being investigated for "war crimes" after they murdered a whole Iraqi family one night a few months back. US officials are approaching this story as if this wasn't standard procedure, and are focusing on holding the individual Marines accountable. Jessie Macbeth blows the lid off that story.Ironically, even as MacBeth was being sentenced for his fraud those Marines were being cleared of the charges brought against them. (One is now suing Jack Murtha - see here for the latest). Likewise, while ostensibly "anti-war" the real function of Iraq Veterans Against the War is to publicize similar claims that US troops in Iraq routinely commit atrocities as part of US policy - see their recent thinly disguised press release in The Nation magazine for example. (Actually investigated here with some responses from other military members serving in Iraq here). And here's our complete Jesse MacBeth coverage from May, 2006:
Posted by Greyhawk / October 2, 2007 1:39 PM | Permalink 14 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
Comments (0) |
|
The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 10/02/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.
Excellent post Grewhawk!
Thanks for the post. Reid and the Democrats must be getting desperate to make Rush the issue. They are just trying to cover up the lies they made to their antiwar kooks. It's sort of like Mayor Newsom bringing up Gay marriages when there are more important issues like homeless people crapping on the streets of San Francisco.
Thanks to you and Mrs. GH, and all our other fine milbloggers, I always have facts and figures at my fingertips. You guys are all the best. I am so grateful.
Well it shows that Reid and Harkin are morons. How could they support a liar like McBeth and show distain for General Petraeus by not condeming Moveon? I am not a Limbaugh fan, but if you stand before the other A$$clowns and condemn him, why are they not condeming Moveon over the General Petraeus Ad? How sick is that, I am fed up with the lot in Washington. The politicans now days are lower then doggy doo I wipe off my shoe. It is time to tell them that we will not stand for their betrayal any longer.
Thank God for your posts, the MSP says little about Jesse MacBeth and many are taken in by the pronouncements of anti-military folks like the sour faced Reid. You wont find the NYT or Washington Post clarifying Rushes comments.
Thank God for your posts, the MSP says little about Jesse MacBeth and many are taken in by the pronouncements of anti-military folks like the sour faced Reid. You wont find the NYT or Washington Post clarifying Rushes comments.
Maybe he has a hard time telling the difference due to his own "magic hat" moments: Candidate Harkin Streches the Truth
Your representations of IVAW are way off. If anything they are trying to get away from the "bad apple" theory that the military is using to get rid of scandals by attacking our service members for doing what they are asked to do.
IVAW promptly kicked out Macbeth and now requires DD214's to prove service.
Liars like Macbeth do more harm than they ever could do good, so why would IVAW want to prop up people they KNOW are liars? They wouldn't. People like Macbeth are useful tools for the right.
IVAW is a collection of shitbags whose purpose is to portray US soldiers as murderous thugs. Read the links provided - it's undeniable.
If any of the gutless, lying f@#ks actually has evidence of war crimes they are covering for the criminals who committed them by refusing to say exactly who did what and when. Anyone who actually did any of the things IVAW accuses soldiers of doing should be prosecuted and condemned - but as I said above, the IVAW crowd are gutless liars.
Whatever happened to not making public statements about a war until it is over? Too many people stepping up to the microphone these days. A little less grandstanding and a little more focus on victory would solve a lot of what some are complaining about.
Hey ArmySgt if you are or ever one? Why didn't IVAW ask for DD214 from the beginning? Wouldn't you want these guys vetted first before they started spouting their diahrea of the mouth first? The fact you didn't police your own people shows you are just political hacks not worrying about the facts. And oops... We got caught, maybe we should check if these dirtbags we prop up as hereos even served. The only tools here are the IVAW and the Jihadists are the ones who are using you. How many more terrorists joined and killed American soldiers because of Macbeth's lies?
Thank you for the valuable information on this weasel "ranger-wannabe" McBeth. The FBI has FINALLY started looking into the VA records in the state of Washington, DC and have arrested a dozen, if not more --- phonies, frauds, fakers and liars. They are coming to states where others live and this is just the start of things to come in exposing these R%^$##$%!!!! phonies.
These links below should explain what I am talking about with those phony nonfiction book authors. I have the U.S. National Archive Records, NPRC (National Personnel Records Center) documents that refute 25 nonfiction books in the LRP/LRRP/Special Forces genre. The main author, PFC Linderer, leading this smear campaign against the unit that I served with has many groupies that believe every word he has written. Such nonsense in hbis book as PFC Linderer, comparing himself to the MOH (Medal of Honor) recipient, Audy Murphy and he is the “ONLY” man in US Military history to have claimed that he earned 2 Silver Stars and 2 Purple Hearts (a wound in each leg) for the same day's combat. This of course, is a military impossibility, but if you had any time and rank in the military you would know that.
http://www.i-served.com/GaryLinderer/GaryLinderer_JohnKerry.htm
http://www.f58lrp.com/
http://www.i-served.com/GaryLinderer/GaryLinderer_OperationHomecoming.htm
http://www.i-served.com/GaryLinderer/GaryLinderer_BloggerGate.htm
http://wizbangblog.com/content/2005/06/01/the-vietnam-vet.php
I would like to thank and send my regards to all those who are serving and have served with strength, honor and dignity. God bless you all.
Don C. Hall
http://www.i-served.com
Author of `I SERVED'
Producer of `SILENT VICTORY'
173rd Airborne Brigade, Dak To, Vietnam-1967
F Company, 51st LRP (Airborne) Infantry-1967-1968
Vietnam SSG E-6 Team Leader of Hot steel 26
Chinless wonder