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Site contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com
Jesse MacBeth may not be an Army Ranger. But I recently spent a couple of weeks on a tiny island off the coast of South Korea with Petty Officer Patrick Lasswell, and I can verify that he is, in fact, a Navy Reservist.
Not that anyone would lie about that.
That's the title of Ann Scott Tyson's review of Home of the Brave.
Let's make this book a bestseller and render Tyson's out-of-touch review irrelevant.
Ann - you just don't get it, and I doubt you ever will.
Let me throw down the gauntlet on something else that happened on the news today, and see if I get any enraged military-related IT guys try to explain why this is okay.
Let's see. Today's report: The VA loses personal data for right about everybody since 1974. Last couple of months: DoD computer system leaks out names and passwords for everybody on the system. The company DoD personnel are forced to get credit accounts for loses an entire backup tape set with said data. And on and on and on, and those are just the ones we know about.
Back when promotion lists passed by Congress and published in the Congressional Record still included full SSNs, a light colonel I know had a spectacular amount of trouble when the results of what the guy did when he stole her identity became apparent. It sure made it hard for her to get some free time, what with trying to recover her family's credit and keep her house and all.
I don't know about you, but if I were the bad guy I'd suddenly ruin the credit and empty the bank accounts of a whole lot of people at once, doing everything from sending magazine subscriptions to buying illegal substances over the internet from person to person to you name it. It would be quite an information warfare H&I fire. If I didn't take the time for that I'd do something like accidentally happened to General Schoomaker anyway by screwing up his pay so badly it would take forever to fix. It's very hard to keep focused on being a staff weenie or shooting well when someone's trying to reposess your house, and you have to explain to your wife why the FBI is inquiring about the disgusting illegal pictures that arrived in the mail paid for by your government credit card and delivered to your house.
This is the kind of extra worry that happens when valuable information is not given the protection it deserves, complicated by decisions made by people whose VCRs still flash 12:00 and were captured by the latest buzzword-compatible IT brief.
Where is the Bruce Schneier in DoD? Why are we not able to correct this cascading failure?
While reading the IVAW's statement distancing themselves from Jesse MacBeth, I noticed an advertisement for an anti-war documentary, "Sir! No Sir!" It's supposed to be about the "G.I. Underground" during the Vietnam War, but I noticed something in the trailer that didn't look quite right to me...
Fake but accurate? You be the judge.
Hey, that "dress wearing" thing--man, don't diss the dress wearers by comparing the petty fraudster that way. Sgt. Hester would kick your butt. (Even 1stSgt Farr would laugh--you have to be tough to wear a camo kilt in Iraq...)
During the Hoist the Black Flag podcast, someone (I think it was Rusty) asked about camel spiders.
Here's a gruesome video (via Doc) of a camel spider eating a lizard.
And just to ruin the fun, here's a myth-busting National Geographic article on solpugids (the scientific name for camel spiders, which actually aren't spiders at all).
The Marines of 3/25, Lima Company, will be the subject of an A&E "Combat Diary." It airs at 9 PM, EST, on Thursday.
Some of us didn't understand why a Reserve battalion was being deployed to that area, at that time. But they were, and they did their duty. Tune in and hear the story of the hardest-hit combat unit of the Iraq war.
Semper Fi, 3/25.
Tomorrow should be interesting. Diana Irey, John Murtha's opponent, will be holding a press conference with "veterans" in Washington, D.C..
IVAW releases a preliminary statement on Jesse MacBeth:
Iraq Veterans Against the War recently learned of a video interview with Jesse MacBeth that directs viewers to IVAW’s website and phone number. IVAW was not made aware of the creation of this video program and our input on it was never sought by its producers. Jesse MacBeth is not a spokesperson for IVAW and any claims made by MacBeth about his service have not been verified. We are currently investigating these claims and will have a full statement pending its resolution.
D'oh!
60,000.
That's the first week sales figure for Neil Young's latest.
Place your bets below.
I'll be on with Ace and Jeff at 4:04 Eastern. (Listen online at the link - channel one.)
We'll be talking about Jeff's Victorian Doll collection, Mrs Greyhawk's secret recipe for the soup she takes to the wounded troops, MRE coffee, and time permitting Jesse MacBeth.
May be taking calls too.
Update: Smash was on also. And Rusty Shakleford.
Good times.
I pass this on from an email I received this morning... These guys are out to spread the good news and counter the lopsided coverage of the war..
Thank you for your support in our fight for freedom in this Global War on Terror! The response from America's Silent Majority has been overwhelming, and we appreciate your support. The American public is finally hearing loud and clear that the troops overwhelmingly support our national mission of fighting terror and defending freedom around the world! I thank you for your continuing support.We're excited about the support we've received thus far thanks to friends like you, and I wanted to give you a quick update on what is happening with Vets for Freedom:
First, I'd like to tell everyone about our new website at www.vetsforfreedom.org. The response to our first email was so overwhelming that unfortunately, some portions of our email list were lost. Therefore, I strongly urge everyone to visit the new site and sign-up for email updates, even if you have done so previously. Our new website was built using all the latest technology so once you sign-up on the new site, you'll always be able to receive the latest Vets for Freedom news and information. Please help us ensure that we have your correct information by visting the new site and signing-up for email updates. Thanks!
Also, Vets for Freedom has been taking the mainstream media by storm! In the past several weeks, we have appeared for commentary numerous times on CNN and FOX, and have also been featured by the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Knight-Ridder, USA Today, and numerous other media outlets across the country. You can watch highlights of our pro-mission coverage here.
Finally, I'd like to thank you again for your continued support, and ask you to make a generous contribution. Using our secure, online donation page, you can support Vets for Freedom and help us continue to serve as a positive voice for veterans and all Americans who believe in the fight for freedom around the world. Please make you most generous contribution here. Thank you!Thank you for you continued support of our noble mission! Semper Fi!
Wade Zirkle
Executive Director
Over at Real Clear Politics, the boring story about Katrina that the media didn't find interesting.
Greyhawk - if Jesse *was* Army, we flushed him, so we did right. It's not like this crowd needs an excuse, anyway.
I know I don't... heck, I don't even need the truth for a good snark against my brothers-and-sisters-in-arms!
But don't any pencil-necked, sunken-chested, latte-sipping civvys pile on my uniformed bros, past, present, and future. If we can't criticize John Kerry 'cuz we weren't there, then I don't need to listen to any patchouli-scented furball rif on the Jarheads, Zoomies, and Squids. That's *my* territory!
Hey! You! Put my latte' down, dammit!
(This report was compiled from multiple sources. If anyone has amplifying or conflicting information, please provide it in the comments.)
According to the Army, nobody by the name of Jesse MacBeth (or many of the obvious alternate spellings of that name) has ever attended or graduated from Ranger school. The Army has no record of anyone by that name serving at Ft. Benning, or Ft. Lewis. In fact, the Army has no record of anyone named Jesse MacBeth serving in its ranks. Ever.
An article in the Eastern Arizona Courier, dated November 3, 2003, begins with the following paragraphs:
The war in Iraq was officially called to an end a few months ago, but according to Private First Class Jesse MacBeth, 19, of Pima, the turmoil has just begun.MacBeth, a ranger in the U.S. Army, returned to the states two-and-a-half months ago after sustaining an injury in his back. He spent 14 months serving in the Middle East -- first in Afghanistan and then in Baghdad. Formerly from Tucson, MacBeth now resides in Pima, where he has family, friends and a fiancé. He said that small-town life is the perfect remedy for the various traumas that he suffered during his service in the Middle East.
If true (and it clearly isn't), this would mean that MacBeth had returned home from Iraq in mid-August (coincidentally, about the same time I returned from my deployment). This was long before either of the two major actions in Fallujah.
But wait, it gets better:
Most of the contributers here would recognize the poet who was inspired enough to pen the lines in the extended section, but I'll withold the identity.
But some things just gotta be shared...
Previous entry of mine - withdrawn. Too many pictures, wrong dimensions, not as pop-ups. I have much to learn about Moveable Type. After I finish my 40 push-ups, that is.
I will try to keep an eye out for anything from the DoD or the Army on our Faux Ranger.
Yours,
A chastened Major John
For awhile I thought everyone was spending too much time on Poseur Jesse, but then I started thinking, no. Someone like him needs to have the strongest possible light on him as possible. Flood the marketplace so he will crawl back in whatever hole he came from. That way, perhaps the next attention starved loser will think twice about smearing men better than himself. Maybe. There will be more. There will be more.
Via email:
Joe Chenelly here -- I don't know if you remember me, but I am formally of Army Times. I wrote a few articles about you and other MilBloggers last year. I left Army Times for a public affairs officer with the Corps about seven months ago. Well, I left that position last month to help publicize the National Symposium for the Needs of Young Veterans. The event's official Web site is http://www.veteransnationalsymposium.org/.Joe did a great job telling the MilBlogs story in Army Times, and this event looks like one well worth publicizing.
Real vets - for the real "reality based" community.
The thought had occured to me (and I also pray that it isn't true) that Jesse MacBeth could have enlisted in the Marines. After all, he does roll up his sleeves and wear pin-on collar devices in something that vaguely approximates USMC uniform regulations.
Note that I didn't say "is a Marine," because the most plausible scenario, if he did in fact enlist, is that this guy was a boot camp washout who later came up with the Army Ranger story to cover up for his failure.
Dear Lord,
I don't ask for much, but please, if it turns out that MacBeth wasn't Army, please reveal that the stuttering pencil necked geek isn't Air Force or Navy either. Cause it could get mighty rough around these parts if it turns out that's the case.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen
Michelle Malkin is on the Jesse MacBeth story now too, and says
I just talked to the Army spokesman as well. Paul Boyce told me: "At a minimum, this appears to have been concocted" and "some sort of hoax." Special Ops Command and State Department have been alerted. The uniform issues of the alleged soldier were a "red flag," Boyce said. As were MacBeth's claims to have entered the Army at 16 and exit at age 20, and have been both Army Ranger and Special Ops, and have received the Purple Heart and other medals. I asked whether there would be a criminal investigation. Boyce said they would follow up on any substantial leads.But they had better work fast - Allah has been watching this story spread, and there are now talk radio folks touting Jesse as the real deal.
The original St Louis Tribune story debunking the outrageous claims of Jimmy Massey has vanished into their archives.
Fortunately, Michelle Malkin was following the story very closely. Very closely.
Maybe some of you would be willing to contact snopes.com to get them to update this entry listed as "undetermined":
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/iraqmayor.asp
I noticed it mentioned a few posts down, and it irritates me that they haven't updated it despite my contacting them and pointing them to some links that verify that the mayor of Tal'Afar really did write more than one thank you letter to American troops. Hell, he's visited us recently in the U.S. and repeated his message of thanks.
How many people and news organizations need to report something before snopes.com updates? I don't know...
According to this blogger :
“Initial research by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg shows no Soldier with the name of Jesse Macbeth having ever been assigned to the Special Forces or the Army Rangers — which are, in fact, two separate disciplines. This appears to be some sort of hoax. No Soldier by that name at Fort Lewis to our knowledge, in the past, either. Of course, the line about "go into the Army or go to jail" is vintage TV script not heard since the 1960s. There are also numerous wear and appearance issues with the Soldier's uniform — a mix of foreign uniforms with the sleeves rolled up like a Marine and a badly floppy tan beret worn like a pastry chef. Of course, the allegations of war crimes are vague, as are the awards the Soldier allegedly received.”
Via QandO
LGF has more
These guys think so. Via the BBC, no less.
So - click the laptop and give it a shot, 'k?
And a big shout out to the author Mr.Richard Greene, for making someone feel a lot safer about things. Those who know, know. Those who don't - don't need to.
The New York Times displays a highly selective bit of attentiveness about good news in Iraq:
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 22 — In the wave of lawlessness and frantic self-interest that has washed over this war-weary nation, small acts of pure altruism often go unnoticed.-- As unnoticed as almost every other element of good news, when it’s the New York Times that would be doing the noticing.
So why do they notice “small act of pure altruism?”
Why, so they can beat the drum of quagmire, civil war, mass exodus and war torn chaos, of course!
More commentary and Times foolishness here.
The Navy chaplain Greyhawk discusses below really seems to be quite the jerk, IMO. I've got some background information on the story here.
NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Va. – An evangelical Navy chaplain who attended a press conference and offered a prayer “in Jesus’ name” at the event while in uniform will be court-martialed for disobeying his commanding officer’s order not to do so.
Holy cow! I for one pray our brave sailors are never again exposed to that sort of language!
But the Chaplain isn’t really being court martialed for the prayer.
After the Navy issued a new policy in February stating that the religious expressions of chaplains outside worship services “should be non-sectarian in nature,” Klingenschmitt subsequently attended a March 30 press conference protesting that policy. At the event, held in front of the White House by former Chief Justice of Alabama Roy Moore, Klingenschmitt offered a “ceremonial” prayer.Klingenschmitt had been ordered not to take part. The Navy subsequently charged him with “attending and participating” in that news conference, disobeying the order.
According to this report from CNN, a Greek F-16 collided with a Turkish fighter it had been sent to intercept earlier today. The Greek Defense Minstry apparently claimed that the Turkish fighter had violated Greek airspace.
This follows the reported collision of two Italian F-16s earlier off Sardinia during the NATO exercise Spring Flag 06, which was not supposed to extend to the Greeks and Turks, which makes me think the collision wasn't just a training exercise gone horribly wrong.
...now would be a good time to recharge Project Valour-IT, the laptops for the wounded, doncha think? You should think, since Valour-IT was invented by milbloggers and mostly funded by us and our readers. Let's help the living wounded, as a way to honor the Fallen.
Click here and read while I slime Lex and Matt, or just click the Cox and Forkum cartoon below and send the equivalent of a six-pack or holiday steak to Project Valour-IT. The troops who've been wounded badly enough that a voice-activated laptop is a useful and welcome tool are worth that much, doncha think?
And yes, you'll get a receipt and it's tax deductible. It's a Soldiers Angels project.
Update: Fuzzybear Lioness, the Driving Force® behind Project Valour-IT provides this update (this being done on a whim as my major Memorial Day theme, I kinda caught her by surprise):
Guys, that would be wonderful! I've been meaning to roll out some changes/updates recently, so this would be a great time.The official website is a bit out of date at the moment (I have a huge list of changes to be made--I'm waiting on the webmaster, but it should be updated any day now). In the meantime, anything on the project blog (very up-to-date) supercedes the main website.
From a comment attached to the Jesse MacBeth video:
If Jesse MacBeth is or isn't who he claims to be, so what? Does being a fake change the fact that this war is grossly illegal, corrupt and immoral? Does it change the fact that the U.S. admin lies, condones and practices torture, illegal captivity, kidnapping, rape, use of napalm ... uses depleted uranium on its own troops as well as on foreign soil?
The author of this comment is... wait for it... "Truthwatch."
Steve Schippert's comments from the Milblogging conference? He had an excellent point on how the distortions, lies, and frauds of Vietnam's anti-war movement will never again be possible, thanks to the milbloggers.
I think Jessie MacBeth would agree.....
Insurgents hamper U.S., Iraqi forces in Ramadi
I feel so dumb, I thought insurgents killed people. Apparently, they are only "hampering".
Insurgents hamper U.S., Iraqi forces in Ramadi
I feel so dumb, I thought insurgents killed people. Apparently, they are only "hampering".
National Review Online posts the heartfelt response of President Bush to the President of Iran.
Here's how it opens:
Thank you for your invitation to accept Islam. As you know, I am a Christian. Throughout your letter you accuse me of being a bad Christian, which leaves me puzzled as to why you think I might make a good Muslim. However, before you proselytize outside your own country, you might want to address the condition of the Islamic faith in Iran.
...just pulled the awards from his profile. It's still there, but it's sans awards.
Greyhawk called it - but Allah has taken care of that for you with his screencaps.
So, will Our Hero post new ones, after some advice on what are good choices? Or just leave it be?
Here's some advice for you, Jessie.
Lessee, wanna be plausible, but not too mundane.
Ranger Tab
Jump Wings with 1 Combat Star
Combat Infantryman's Badge.
Expert Marksman, Rifle.
Sharpshooter, Pistol
Sharpshooter, Recoiless Rifle.
Bronze Star (with V, natch!).
Purple Heart.
Army Commendation
Army Achievement, 2 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Good Conduct Medal.
OIF and OEF Ribbons.
NDSM.
Army Service
Skip the Overseas Service, since you're basically claiming to have been stateside and deployed your entire time in service.
That'll be nice and juicy. Skip the V on the Bronze Star to really be safe.
via Payson Arizona Roundup - Dec 16th 2003
Tuesday, December 16, 2003 Editor: Spec. Jesse MacBeth, of Pima, recently returned from the war in Iraq.
Published: Monday, April 12, 2004Jesse MacBeth told another story.
MacBeth, a 20-year-old U.S. soldier who recently returned from Iraq after sustaining a back injury, said Coffee Plantation banned him from the store in March for the way he was dressed -- in his training uniform.
If I got this correct so far, he returned from Iraq prior to Dec 2003 with a back injury.
FORT BENNING, Ga. (USASOC News Service, Aug. 7, 2003) — After multiple deployments over the past two years in support of the Global War on Terrorism, members of the 75th Ranger Regiment and its three battalions came here Aug. 3-7 to participate in Ranger Rendezvous 2003.
All three of the Ranger Battalions were at Fort Benning in August 2003 having a BBQ.
Even the crowd at Democratic Underground is starting to realize it's a fake... their "blame game" is quite amusing. I wonder if any of them ever think, "Why is it that everything I get excited about turns out to be wrong? Maybe the rest of the information I'm getting about Iraq,. or Rove indictments, is wrong too..."
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